I'd Lie
by FeJoy29
Summary: For the past 26 years Gabi's heart has been longing for a certain someone. For the past 10 years her heart has been jealous. For the past 9 months she has been waiting for a mental breakdown. Troy's getting married & it's not to her. Troyella
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I am completely in love with Taylor Swift these days, and when I was listening to her song I'd Lie the other day, this story immediately popped into my head. I'm really excited about it and I really hope all of you love it too. I'm also hoping that my devoted Hidden Desire reviewers will find themselves devoted to this story as well. Please don't forget to review and let me know if you think I should continue with this story!**

* * *

**I'd Lie - Chapter 1**

_**June 9, 2009**_

For the past twenty six years Gabriella's heart has been longing for a certain someone. For the past ten years her heart has been jealous. For the past six years her heart has been screaming at her to take a chance. For the past sixteen months her heart has been breaking into millions of pieces; or was that her whole life? She knew what her whole life was though: a huge lie. It was ridiculous actually, and she knew that it was slowly destroying her mentally, physically, and emotionally, but she didn't do anything about it.

But nine months ago she was fully prepared to have a mental breakdown; she was fully prepared for her body to shut down completely and for her to go crazy.

She no longer smiled; smile like she did when she was younger and innocent. Smile like she did when she didn't know the pain that could be felt in this world. Her smiles were fake these days; they were filled with no emotion and blank eyes. It was forced and its only purpose was to make everyone else happy.

She was surrounded by happy people at the moment. People with tears in their eyes, people dressed up for one of the most special days of their lives, people with only dance, music, cake and food on their minds, people who seemed to just be high on life. Now where did Gabriella fit into all of this? Well, you could say that she was one of the people with tears in their eyes I guess, but those tears weren't the same as everyone else's.

Right now she was slumped over in a confessional in St Bernadette's Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. No, she wasn't there to confess all of her sins or to pour out all of her true feelings to a random minister. She was there because she was hiding. She was hiding from all of the other people that were running around this church at this very moment trying to piece together millions of little details. It had become too much for her, and it had been that way for almost all of her life. But nine months ago it was clear that she was going to fall over the edge and she was going to have an almost deadly landing.

_**September 1, 2008**_

The sound of Taylor Swifts voice engulfed Gabriella's bedroom at what felt like the crack of dawn. A pissed off whine left her mouth as she automatically rolled over towards her night table to snatch up her cell phone. She didn't even bother looking at the caller ID before speaking in an annoyed tone to the person at the other end.

'Geesh, I'll assume that I'm waking you up?'

'Why are you calling me at 8:30 on a Saturday morning? You know that this is the only day I get to sleep in Troy, and I take that very seriously. I am so desperate for sleep, and now I'm never going to get t-'

'Alright Gab's, I'm sorry. But trust me, what I'm about to say is totally worth it.'

'It better be,' muttered Gabriella before she collapsed backwards and her head hit her pillow again.

'I did it.'

'You did what?' Did he honestly expect her to be able to think in the state that she was in? She was half conscious, tired, pissed off and annoyed.

'I did it, I finally did it.'

'Troy. I have no freaking clue what on earth you are talking about. No freaking clue.'

'Joy. I did it, I finally asked her Ella, I really can't believe that I did it.'

She was still clueless as to what he was talking about, and the fact that he was talking fast and saying very little meaningful words was driving her crazy.

'What did you finally ask Joy, I'm extremely confused.

'She said yes, I asked her to marry me and she said yes!'

Her mouth dropped open and her heart beat felt like it was going to explode out of her chest. That was it; one of the final straws had just been pulled. Her eyes darkened, her body stiffened, her hands clamped shut into tight fists, her blood was boiling, her head was shaking no, and her cell phone was about to fall from her ear.

It actually did, and then it was slammed shut and thrown against her bedroom wall. She starred at it as it sat in three pieces on her hardwood floor opposite her bed.

No words came from her mouth, only pain shot through her body. He had actually done it and he had no idea that she felt this way about it. Would he ever even know how she truly felt? Probably not. Why? Because she was a coward.

A boring and monotoned ring filled her bedroom once again, except this time it was her house phone, not her cell phone. She knew exactly who it was, but could she talk to him again so soon? Ugh, she didn't have a choice. Troy would get worried about her and probably end up coming over to check on her and then she would have to explain herself. But she couldn't explain herself, she couldn't tell Troy what really happened and why she did it. He wouldn't understand; he didn't have those type of feelings for her like she had for him.

So she apprehensively picked up the house phone and hit the talk button. Immediately Troy's voice filled her ear and he frantically asked her what had just happened. She replied by telling him that her phone just slipped out of her grasp and she lost it in her bed sheets. He could be oblivious enough to believe that. And it worked too, because he did believe her and let the entire thing slide. Next thing she knew, Gabi was stuck listening to Troy talk about him and Joy getting married again; the main cause of her now shattered cell phone.

But she listened to him talk about it; she listened to him tell her exactly how he did it, where he did it, what she said, what he said, how much she cried, how happy he was.

He was happy, and she had absolutely nothing to do with it. Talk about a slap in the face.

The entire time he talked, all she could mutter were monotone "yups" "uh hu" "mmhmm." Nothing that needed her to actually move her mouth came out of it. They were all easy sounds that would simply reassure Troy that she was still there. But if he could actually see her, he would see cold tears running down her paled cheeks, disappointment in her eyes, her lips upside down in a frown, and her fists still clenched shut extra tight.

It was all over.

It was once said by Ralph Waldo Emerson that "Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause in effect." Was Gabriella waiting for luck to just take its course? It sure felt like it. If she wanted Troy so badly, why the hell didn't she go and do something about it? Create a cause to have an effect?

Maybe it was because she was sure that Troy didn't feel the same way about her as she felt about him, or so she thought. Their freshman year in college they were both out together at a party where Troy had a little too much to drink. He had promised her that he would protect her that night, and every other night that he was ever alive. He said that he would always be there to listen to her, to always try to see her side of things, and to always be the best friend to her that he had been since he first met her.

But when he was pressured into playing some provocative games and he had already downed a few bears and orange juice and vodka cocktails, everything went down hill. _Way_ down hill.

She overheard Troy and another random guy talking and for some reason she heard her name being mentioned. Instantly her head shot up and her attentions was focused solely on Troy and the guy. All she can remember hearing are the phrases, 'she's like my little sister' 'never in a million years' 'I can't have strings' 'different girl every night.'

Gabriella was heart broken and she immediately ran out of the house and somehow found her way back to her dorm. Ever since then she just can't look at Troy the same way.

_**June 9, 2009**_

After a few deep breaths, Gabriella found herself standing on her feet again and smoothing out her crystal blue chiffon knee length dress with a deep v-neck and thick straps. It was a very pretty dress, but it was hard to look at without becoming emotional. The color was a mirror image of Troy's eyes and Gabi was certain that Joy had done that on purpose. All the more reason Gabi wanted to go punch someone.

She put herself back together, whipped the tears from her face, and dug out her fake smile to plaster on her still pale face. After she was comfortable with herself, she slowly opened the confessional door and made her way out into the suddenly quiet and empty hallway. After looking left and right, she noticed the bathroom a few doors down and quickly ran inside so she could check her appearance.

Only a few moments later Gabriella was startled by the intense beatings on the bathroom door and the sound of Taylor's voice calling her name.

Gabriella quickly moved to unlock the door and Taylor came flying inside. She stopped though once her eyes settled on Gabriella's sad face and she instantly went to embrace her in a tight hug. 'Oh hunnie, I'm so sorry.'

'You have nothing to be sorry for Tay.' Now was not the time for Gabriella to cry, she couldn't let out her emotions right now. She was pretty sure that all of her friends knew how upset that she was about this marriage, but for some reason they had never talked about it.

Taylor and everyone else could see as clear as day how upset Gabriella was with all of this. It tore them to shreds to see how depressed Gabriella had become in the last few months specifically, even though they knew that she had been falling apart for years.

One time when Taylor asked Gabriella about everything that was happening, she asked her why on earth she didn't just go and tell Troy how she really felt. None of her friends could comprehend why Gabriella would just hold all of her true feelings inside of herself. Gabriella told Taylor that she felt that she didn't have a choice. She was sure that Troy didn't want to be with her in that way ever, and although it was heart breaking she had no choice but to deal with it.

Not being able to be with Troy romantically was one thing, but to not be with him period, to not be with him as a friend would be the death of her. So she kept her mouth shut and her heart sealed as tightly as she could all for him.

'Umm... I've been looking for you for a while actually. Troy wants you.'

Just hearing those words made Gabriella's heart stop for a few seconds. It always made her happy to know that she was on his mind, or that he wanted to see her. It made her feel like she wasn't the only person in their friendship.

'Oh... what for?'

'I don't know, but he's kind of freaking out without you by his side and he's been begging for you for a while now. I don't think it's a good idea to keep him waiting any longer, you know how he gets without you.'

A small and barely noticeable real smile played on her lips at Taylors words. It was cute how he could get sometimes when it came to her, but the words "she's like my little sister" would always play through her mind right after.

'Is he in his room changing?' asked Gabriella quietly.

'Yeah, he's alone waiting for you.' Gabriella gave Taylor a quick and fake smile with a slight nod before making her way to the bathroom door to leave.

'And Gabi?'

Gabriella turned around to meet Taylors eyes filled with pity. 'I'm so sorry, really. My heart will never be as broken as yours may be, but believe me when I say that it's still broken. I hate this too.'

Depression filled Gabriella's body and worked its way up to her eyes. She just nodded in understanding to Taylor before leaving the bathroom and heading towards where Troy was.

After knocking on his door a few times, it flew open and a relieved looking Troy was directly in front of her. 'GABI!' He immediately pulled her body into his and her face was crushed by his strong chest. Her arms just laid at her sides as numbness filled her body. It was so hard to be around Troy, especially on a day like today. His wedding day. The day he was getting married to the woman he loved. The woman he would spend the rest of his life with; wake up by her side every day, go on vacations with, make love to, cook dinner with, laugh and share stories with, be with. She wasn't that woman though and it completely destroyed her.

'I've been wondering where you have been! I need help putting my cuff link's on.'

'Why didn't you just ask Chad?'

'Because Chad's not you.'

Troy had a huge smile on his face, but his eyes were dead serious. She was blown away by his words but her face was still pale with numbness. Her eyes hadn't changed; they were still empty. She felt heavy and tired and almost like she was going to pass out at any moment. But he needed her to put on his cuff link's, so she would put on his cuff links. She would do anything for him because it was him. She needed him.

Silence filled the air as she easily attached his cuff links and carefully scanned over his presence to make sure he looked good and that everything was in its proper place. All of a sudden Troy's quite voice broke her concentration on trying to pretend that Troy was just a regular guy that she knew: someone who she felt no feelings towards at all.

'Am I doing the right thing?' asked Troy. Desperation was visible in his eyes, he needed reassurance.

_The right thing? NO. You. Me. Together: that is the right thing. You. Me. Not together: that is not the right thing. All of this is messed up and wrong. Every single thing._

'Yes Troy.'

'Yes?'

She felt like a robot: only doing what people wanted her to do, only saying what she knew people wanted to hear. None the less she did it all and said it all, while inside she was screaming to say what was on her mind again, to voice her opinion, to let all of her emotions lose. It didn't matter though, she just nodded her head with the same blank and frozen face she had kept the entire time. Turning her body away from his, she urged her legs to move her and she slowly and barely walked away from Troy.

**AN: I just have to thank xo LAILAIxo for the extra encouragement to get going with this story and finish the first chapter. So this story is basically brought to all of you readers because of her, thanks Mel! If you like this story, make sure you check out my other ones, Hidden Desire, Enough Is Enough and my new OneShot Joining You In Heaven. Please review!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I can't believe all of the reviews that I got! Thank you all so much and I'm so happy that you're excited about this story! I'm not sure how long it's going to be, originally I was thinking 4-6 chapters, but now I can see it maybe up to 10, we'll just have to see how things go and how I feel about it. But of course there won't even be a third chapter if I don't get any reviews, so if you like what I'm doing, let me know!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_**September 6, 2008**_

'Gabi! It's so good to see you, come in!' The pure happiness on Joy's face could break a window it was so bright.

Why did she like Gabriella so much? Seriously, what was her problem, did she have to be so nice, so perky, so... perfect? It only made her more mad, more crushed. Being the supportive best friend that she had been for the past 26 years, Gabriella had no choice but to show up for this "congratulations on becoming engaged" dinner. She was fully prepared to go through the entire night with a huge fake grin on her face. It was all an act, and for some reason she was still the only person who would ever notice; even after years and years of playing this screwed up game; a game all her own.

The only way that she could be with Troy, or be around him, was to put up with everything that he came with. His dumb girlfriends, overly perfect fiancés, blindness to her true feelings, horrible eating habits, obsession with working out almost every day, insistence on cooking dinner at least three times a week and always making sure to open doors for women. Alright, she started off listing his bad qualities but ended up ranting about his incredibly good qualities. The qualities that made her go weak in the knees, scream at herself for letting him slip through her fingers, and want to personally kill Joy and get rid of the sister-like qualities that she supposedly possessed.

Either way tonight was going to be torture. She was going to have to spend the next few hours under the same roof as the happy-in-love-kissy-kissy-couple. That was her least favorite thing to do; it was one of the biggest slaps in her face she could ever receive. Sometimes she even wondered if it was God's way of saying, "Haha, you screwed up and didn't listen to your heart. This is what you get, pay attention next time. Oh wait, there won't be a next time."

It made her so mad, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She often wondered if the life that she was living was even real, if she even existed. Because she was sure that her feelings meant nothing, her wants and desires in life were purposeless, and her opinion didn't matter at all. Again, it was like she was a robot; no feelings existed in her besides anger, but that anger was so huge that it was her only feeling, therefore it felt like being content. You know, like it was the basic feeling she could ever feel, therefore she barely felt it? It was just so natural for her to feel it that she often forgot it was there; she often forgot why she was even this angry in the first place.

Gabriella walked around with her hands by her side and her head down day after day just waiting for someone to stop her and ask her what was wrong. No one did though, and even if they did she would probably say 'nothing.' Taylor, Sharpay, Chad and Zeke didn't count. There was a time when they would always ask her what was wrong, but it came to a point when they realized that they were always going to get the same exact answer so they just stopped asking. Instead, Gabriella just got the pity written all over their faces, their shared sorrow, their sadness. Every single one of them knew about Gabriella's true feelings and how deep they went, but they also knew about Troy's feelings. The thing about Troy's feelings though was that they didn't know exactly how far they went.

Troy had specifically told all four of them one time that things would never work between him and Gabriella. He said that it would be completely wrong to ever be with Gabriella; kiss her; hold her; talk to her like she was his girlfriend; be with her in a more romantic and personal manner. She was like his sister; always had been, always would, right? Troy just couldn't see his feelings about that ever changing, although he would be extremely happy if they did.

It was like an internal battle for Troy; to see her as he always has, or to just let go of the past and start fresh; see Gabriella as the beautiful, intelligent, sweet, lovable, adorable, and even sexy woman that she has grown into. Every time that he saw her, whether it was today or ten years ago, for the first few initial moments that she was in his view point, his mind would wander to other places. He would see her and his breath would get caught in his throat, he would imagine her hands running down his body, her mouth screaming his name, running his own hands through her long and beautiful curly locks. He would see it all, and then be snapped back to reality shortly after.

He didn't really know exactly why he felt the way that he did, or why he was so persistent on believing that he could never be with her. Troy just always felt that he could easily hurt her, like he had done to so many girls in the past, and if he ever hurt Gabriella he would never be able to live with himself. Not being able to have her in the way that he wanted to was killing him, but he'd rather kill himself than kill her.

None of that mattered though, because Troy had expertly figured out a way to break apart his feelings for her, and that was to find another women. Another women to fall in love with and focus his time and heart on. Well, it wasn't really his heart, more like his brain. He would never be in love with Joy, feelings wise, he would just tell himself that he was in love with her. Troy was just desperate to find someone that would take his mind off of Gabriella. Don't get Troy wrong though, he isn't playing Joy at all, she's a great girl and Troy really does admire her, he just doesn't love her like a husband should love their wife.

Gabriella was the only guest at the Bolton-White residence that night unfortunately. Being the best friend of the groom meant that she got special treatment, and that special treatment was a one on one date with the groom and bride themselves, ohh what a treat.

After giving Joy a half-hearted hug and handing her coat over to Troy, Gabriella stood uncomfortably in the front hall like she did every other time she came to their house. Frankly, it sucked. Troy's things were everywhere; all of his childhood memories and furniture. The basketball trophies that he won at games that she went to to cheer him on; the books by Emerson and Thoreau that at one point was considered to be hell by Troy, but after seeing it in Gabriella's perspective he came to love and admire them; the scrapbooks personally made with her own two hands just for Troy that she would constantly make and give him; photo after photo representing their past when everything seemed to be easier and simpler.

It was like another slap in the face. She could have had him if she had tried harder. But she didn't, and now her heart is destroyed.

But next to every item of Troy's always seemed to be an item of Joy's. Whether it was her china dishes that her parents had brought back from Italy for her; or her own scrapbooks filled with pictures of Joy and her own friends; different colored glass vases filled with fresh flowers; or small trinkets from her childhood.

Gabriella could easily get lost in her past when looking at Troy's belongings around the house, but she would easily be brought back to the future when she tilted her head a centimeter and came face to face with Joy's belongings. Frankly, it sucked.

'Can I get you anything to drink Gabriella?' asked Joy sweetly bringing her out of her trance.

After the initial shock Gabriella regained her composure. 'Oh no, I'm fine Joy. Thanks anyways.'

'Oh, okay. Well I'm just going to go check on dinner, it should be ready any minute now.'

All Gabriella could do was smile back and notice the slight hint of disappointment shinning in Joy's eyes.

Another thing about Joy that drove Gabriella beyond insane was the face that Joy didn't have a problem with her; she was always really sweet and nice to her. Why did Troy have to find a genuinely nice girl, why couldn't she be a dumb bitch? If that were the case then Gabriella could easily convince Troy that that girl was the wrong one for him and that he was making the wrong decision, but Joy was a great girl, a good catch.

But either way it was always very clear that Joy had no problem with Gabriella what so ever. She didn't mind how Troy always wanted Gabriella around, or that Troy would always have lunch with Gabriella at least three times a week in stead of with Joy, or that many of Troy's pictures around the house were of him and Gabriella, not him and another one of his friends or even of him and her. She didn't seem to mind that Troy valued Gabriella's opinion just as much, if not more, than Joy's, or that whenever Gabriella was around Troy seemed to smile a little more.

Gabriella would never understand why Joy didn't mind her always being around, considering Troy was _her_ fiancé, and if Troy had been Gabriella's fiancé she was sure she would never want him to be in the presence of any other female; she would want him all to herself. You should want your man to just be _your _man.

'How are you Gabi?' asked Troy as he captivated her in one of his famous bear hugs reserved only for her receivings.

'I'm okay, a little tired, but I can manage.'

'Have you been getting enough sleep Gabi? You have to remember to take care of yourself you know, it's kind of important.'

And there you go. Troy being the "big brother" to Gabi she had once thought she wanted, but after realizing it would only come from Troy, she decided she would never ever want it in a million years. She hated it.

Either way a small smile formed on her lips in appreciation towards Troy's comment, but at the sound of Joy's voice from the kitchen it quickly disappeared.

'Lets go eat, I'm _so_ hungry,' said Troy emphasizing how hungry he was by rubbing his stomach.

'What else is new?' muttered Gabriella under her breath.

'What was that missy?' asked Troy flabbergasted in a joking manner.

'Oh nothing,' joked Gabriella right back.

'Riiight, you're lucky I'm letting that one slide.'

They all made their way over to the dinning room where the table was filled with all the best Italian foods. Troy carefully pulled out Gabriella's chair and easily pushed her in causing her heart to flutter for a few mere seconds, but it stopped abruptly when she saw Troy repeat the same actions with Joy, but afterwards he leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek. Instead of fluttering, her heart just shattered a few more times.

The dinner was eaten with good conversations, mostly between Joy and Troy, but there were many times when Joy would try her hardest to get Gabi included. Gabriella was in a different world the entire time though so it was quite hard for her to focus on the current situation.

It became very clear to Gabi a long time ago that Joy really wanted to be friends with her, but Gabi just couldn't do it. She just couldn't become girly-girly friends with the woman who had the man she was in love with. God only knew what Joy would end up telling her about Troy; one day they could be talking about their favorite things about Troy and the next Joy could tell Gabi how good Troy is in bed. That is one of the _last_ things Gabi ever wants to hear come out of another girls mouth. So in order to try to protect herself Gabi was always distant and cold to Joy; not because she hated her, she just hated what she had.

'Umm... Gabi? Can I ask you a question?' Joy's nervous voice was heard in Gabriella's ear's so she lifted her gaze up from her food and onto Joy's paler face. Again, all Joy got was the blank stare representing no emotion at all; the stare that was now considered Gabriella's trade-mark.

Taking her stare as a go-ahead, Joy continued on. 'Well, um, you know we're getting married and all,' Gabriella's stomach couldn't help but drop and the feeling of vile moving up her throat and threatening to burst out was becoming increasingly persistent. 'I know it's really early and everything, but I was wondering if you would like to be one of my bridesmaids? My sister Caroline is going to be my maid of honor, and other than that you're the only person I really want to have in our wedding party.'

Great. Fucking great. Now she had to go to their damn wedding.

What was she thinking? Of course she would have to go to the stupid wedding, she was Troy's best friend and as his best friend that was just another thing she would have to do for him. Another part of his life that she had to be there for.

Just like the state finals he played in for soccer in the fifth grade, and his first basketball championship in seventh grade, and the award night dedicated to him his freshman year to honor all of his incredible athletic achievements and records he broke, and every single basketball game that he ever played in, both home and away, and the day when his Dad had to go in for knee surgery, and when Troy got his acceptance letter to U of A, and when Troy had to study for his first college exam, and the list goes on and on.

This was his wedding though; it was _completely _different. It couldn't _get_ any more different. This was the one thing a best friend should get to miss out on in Gabriella's opinion; well technically they should be the ones organizing the bachelor and bachelorette parties, but who really gives a crap.

So instead of pretending to sit in the front row and eventually moving to the back row and then eventually moving out of the church and to a local bar, she was going to have to _stand_ up in front of the entire congregation with another fake smile plastered on her face the entire time.

'Of course I'll be one of your bridesmaids Joy, that's really sweet of you to ask me. I'd be honored.'

It was all monotoned, all robotic. Yet no one seemed to notice or care, how the hell was that possible? Maybe it just sounded that way to Gabriella considering that's how she felt, when in reality she was a really good actress and could make anyone believe anything.

But whatever the case, it was all a lie. Just one big lie after another big lie. Just one more step to her breaking point.

**AN: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, it wasn't my best. I just really tried to give you some background information on the characters situations. Oh and by the way this story is Troyella, not JoyTroy or whatever you want to call it. It's actually more Gabriella centered, but the second half, or last quarter of this story will be Troyella. So, there's a little spoiler. What are you guys seeing as to the length of this story, can you see it being long, or just a short little thing? Let me know and thank you all for the support. Review!!**

**And for my Hidden Desire supporters, keep your eyes out for an epilogue really soon!!  
**

**FiFi xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: First off: I'm so, so, so sorry for the delay! My laptop died and I'm desperately waiting for a new battery. Until then I've been demoted to the family computer and it's hard to find it unoccupied. It's 10:00 at night right now, so everyone is basically asleep, meaning no one is using the computer. I hope that I made the wait worth it though, please tell me what you think of this chapter! Review!**

* * *

**I'd Lie**

**Chapter 3**

**June 9, 2009**

This time when she entered the small hallway hidden in the church, it was filled with complete chaos. The wedding planner had just run by her with a clipboard and walkie-talkie in one hand, and a vase of purple and cream flowers in the other. She was talking way too fast for her own good and was sure to crash into someone at some point. Sure enough, all of her little assistants went running after her with their own hands full of wedding stuff.

All Gabriella did was groan and keep moving. Trying desperately to put one foot in front of the other and to completely forget about the last conversation that she just had with Troy. To say what she had said to him tore her heart in shreds even more than it already was, but she had to say it. What would people think of her if they knew that she had told Troy he was doing the wrong thing by marrying Joy? And what if he actually took what she said into consideration and decided he couldn't go through with the wedding and called everything off? He would destroy Joy and it would eventually come back to Gabriella. She couldn't let that happen, so she once again had to put everyone else's feelings before her own.

'Gabriella!'

Ugh. It was her.

She slowly turned her head around to come face to face with the dreadful voice, and when she did her initial thought was that Joy was stressing out, really badly too.

'Oh thank god I found you, I've been calling your cell for the past 30 minutes!'

Now that she mentioned it, Gabriella had no idea where her cell phone was and she didn't care either. She just stood still waiting for Joy to tell her why she was looking for her so that she could fake a smile and walk away.

'It's just, well… would you mind coming in?'

Her original plan was to only go to the wedding for Troy. She was his best friend and she had to be there for him. But then Joy asked her to be one of her bridesmaids so she was now at the wedding for Joy too. The one person she didn't want to be there for. The only reason why Gabriella even hated Joy in the first place and couldn't stand to be around her was because of what she had and what Gabriella didn't have: Troy.

'Of course. That's what I'm here for.'

_Pshh, not. _

Joy ushered Gabriella inside her little suite that she was being held up in. It was covered in dark wood paneling and awful dark green carpet: very gaudy and depressing.

'Thank you so much Gabriella, I just need a distraction or something. I seriously think I'm going to pass out from all of the nerves and stress. Don't ever get married, it'll be the death of you.'

_I don't plan on it. You took the only man I would ever even consider marrying._

'It's no problem Joy. You asked me to be your bridesmaid for a reason after all, so here I am. What do you need me to do?'

'Tell me a story.'

Gabriella felt her eyebrow automatically rise as confusion washed over her body.

'Excuse me?'

'A story. Anything. Just something to get my mind off of things.'

Here was Gabriella sitting in front of her best friend Troy's soon-to-be wife, her heart was already smashed to pieces, and she'd rather be drinking away her misery at some bar right now, but instead she was expected to tell a freaking story? Was she joking?

'Please Gabriella, I'm begging you. Tell me a story from Troy's childhood. A happy memory for you, something that will make me smile. Please?'

No. She didn't want to. Telling Joy a happy memory for Gabriella would destroy it for her. It wouldn't be a little inside joke between her and Troy anymore because now Joy would know too, the one thing that she was trying to prevent. There were so few things that Gabriella had left with Troy, and their past was one of them. It was something that no one could ever take from her.

But she had no choice right at this moment; it was all a matter of which memory could she bare to share. She preferred to tell none of them though.

'Well, I guess so.'

Joy stood up from her sitting position and leaned forward to embrace Gabriella in a warm hug. It was an awkward one though because Joy's huge dress made it hard for her to reach Gabriella's body. 'Thank you so much!'

There were so many memories though and it was hard for Gabriella to find the right one. But none the less, she managed to pull one out of her ass to tell Joy and make her shut up.

'When we were 13, Troy had this really random fascination with skateboarding. I had no idea where it came from, and I still don't, but it was cute. He was so determined to learn and teach himself all of the tricks. One day I was walking over to his house and I saw him in his driveway trying to do some weird flip thingy, I could never remember the actual name for it. But he was so determined to get it perfect; there was no way he would go inside that house or stop until he was comfortable enough with it to do it in his sleep. Well, almost no way. I guess I was his one weakness.

**Flashback**

'What'cha doing there skaterboy?'

The sudden noise scared Troy so much that he lost his footing and ended up on his butt as his skateboard found its way to Gabriella's feet.

'Jesus Gabi, would a warning kill you?'

'Um, I think it would. Anyways, your mom said you might need a break from this, so I came over here to distract you.'

Troy jumped up onto his feet and brushed his hands off on his jeans. He made his way over to Gabriella and grabbed his skateboard out of her hands. 'I don't need a break, and if I needed a distraction, you wouldn't be it.'

'Excuse me? What is that suppose to mean?'

'You're not really my type.'

Thud. There goes her heart once again. All she could do was push away her true feelings and just be grateful that she was lucky enough to be in his presence. Just be grateful that she was lucky enough to be considered his best friend. If she couldn't have what she really wanted, at least she still had something.

'Thanks Troy, that was sweet of you,' she said as she rolled her eyes and turned around to walk back down the driveway.

'Woah, woah, woah, hold up,' rushed Troy as he ran over to her and stood in front of her, discarding his skateboard and placing his hands gently on her shoulders. A spark immediately lit up in Gabriella's body, and she couldn't help wonder if Troy felt the same thing.

'I didn't mean that, well, you know what I meant. I was just joking around with you. I'm sorry.' The sincerity in his voice was overpowering, and also heartbreaking. Yeah, she knew exactly what he meant.

'Here, I'll make it up to you. How about a one-on-one skateboarding lesson with the famous Troy Bolton?'

'Is that suppose to sound exciting?'

'Well… yeah.' He still hadn't removed his hands from her shoulders, and as much as she loved it, she really wished that he would because the longer that he held them there, the more she wanted them to stay there forever.

After a small huff came out of Gabriella's mouth, she slowly nodded her head and Troy ran over to get his skateboard. 'Okay, have you ever been on one of these things?'

_**End Flashback**_

'He was so cute: holding my waist so I didn't fall, never letting go of me because he knew I would rip his head off if he did. I'll never forget that day, he really showed me a different side of him; one of the many different sides of him. He's definitely a remarkable person.'

There was a far-away look in Gabriella's eyes as she starred to the side of Joy's head, definitely in a whole different world. A small smile was tugging on her lips at the memory that made Gabriella realize how incredible Troy really is. They may have been young at the time; but when one knows something is right, they know it's right.

'Wow, that was a lovely story Gabriella, thank you for telling me. I never knew that Troy could skateboard.'

_Well now you do. Ugh._ It was now another secret that Joy knew about Troy; one less that only Gabriella knew. One less thing that she had to hold on to.

All she could do was give Joy a fake smile; you know the one that only consists of movement with you mouth and nothing at all in the eyes? Yeah, that one. The one Gabriella perfected years ago.

Joy's heart softened at Gabriella's expression; she was starting to pay more attention to Gabriella's facial expressions and by doing so, Gabriella's true feelings became clearer to her. Gabriella always seemed so sad to her, so lost and upset. She wasn't exactly sure why she was the way that she was, but she did have a hunch as to what it was.

'Can I tell you something?' asked Joy.

'Of course.'

'It's kind of funny, but really sweet at the same time.'

There was a moment of silence when Joy expected Gabriella to laugh or smile, but she did neither.

'Back when Troy and I first got engaged, we were talking about how big we wanted the wedding to be and everything. At first, we seemed to want a really small one. All Troy cared about was that you were there up at the altar with us. And then he said that maybe he wanted Chad to be up there too. I thought that it was adorable how he thought of you first; he always seems to do that you know.'

Again, Joy took a moment to pause and see if Gabriella had anything to say in response; but again she didn't. There was a small spark in her eye that seemed to pop up, but that was all.

'Anyways, I told him that, well, if you want Gabriella to be up there and I want my sister Caroline to be up there, I think we're going to have to have a few more people up there. Unless you want Gabriella to dress up in a suit and tie to be your best man, it seems that we're going to have to have a few extra people. I told him that I didn't think you'd really want to get dressed up in men's clothing, and he said you're always up for anything.'

A giggle. That was all Joy got. It was small, but it was there, and it was the first one that Joy had heard from her in ages. That made her happy.

'What I mean to tell you, is that Troy really wanted you to be his best man, but after I took apart his desire a little bit, he came up with the idea of you being my bridesmaid. I was actually a little nervous about it, because in all honesty, I don't really think that you like me. But you mean the world to Troy, and I seriously don't ever go a day without having some sort of conversation with him where you're in it. Actually, we seem to have a few of those every day. I just want to thank you, Gabriella, for making Troy such a happy person. I could never fill your shoes, and I definitely don't intend to.'

'He makes me happy too. That's what best friends are for.'

Joy smiled at Gabriella's soft words, silently acknowledging that her hopes for more words out of Gabriella's mouth had now been demolished.

'Right. Again, thank you for agreeing to be my bridesmaid, it means a lot to both Troy and me. I hope that in time we can become closer and better friends too.'

'That would be nice.'

Again, they shared another awkward hug before Gabriella stood up and smoothed out her dress. 'I should be going though to go check up on everything else. Guests should be arriving soon, and I wanted to go find Troy's parents.'

'Oh, okay, sounds good. Tell the Bolton's I said hello.'

All Gabriella did was nod her head and turn around to exit the small room. Once the door shut, Joy sat down with a frown on her face as her new revelations dawned on her. Something wasn't right with Gabriella, and she was slowly becoming confident in what she felt was the problem.

**AN: Again, I'm sorry it took so long to update, I didn't mean for that at all. I'm working on a new short story right now, but it's on my laptop, which is dead, so I can't access it. But I'm excited about it, it's going to be called ****Loosing Her Grace****. Thank you so much to all of the reviewers and supporters of this story, they mean the world to me! And I have a question: would you be totally bored if I did a detailed wedding ceremony, or would you prefer it to be short and sweet, not dragged on? I know that sometimes they can be boring, so let me know! Review away!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: First off, I can't even begin to say how sorry I am that this chapter took so long to get out. My excuses could go on for days. Thank you all so much for the continued support of this story, it means the world to me. And make sure you check out my new short story, Losing Her Grace. Read and review!!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_**June 9, 2009**_

'Hey Gabi, how's it going?' asked Chad as he was casually walking past her but stopped to catch up.

'Um, fine I guess. How are you?'

'Well, if it wasn't for Mr. 'I'm only freaking out because I'm getting married' guy, I think I would be fine too, but you know. Things happen.'

'More like shit.'

Chad's eyes burrowed together and his eyes squinted; confusion taking over his body.

'Wait. What?'

She hadn't actually meant to say that, but you know. Shit does happen, especially to her. 'The saying is "shit happens" not "things happen."

A wave of clarity washes over Chad's sometimes dumb brain. "Ohhh, I get it. You had me there for a minute Montez. But I was actually on my way to see Troy, you wanna come with?'

Every time that his name was said, chills ran down her spine and her entire body tensed up. She had no control over the actions, it just happened. The thought of seeing Troy again today made her want to vomit, so she politely declined and told Chad that she was in search of some friends that were coming. Chad being Chad of course believed her and watched her make her way to where ever she was going.

Picking up his momentum again he walked down the hallway a little while longer and knocked on the grooms door. After waiting for a few seconds, it burst open and he felt his arm being yanked it. 'Woah, woah, woah man. What is going on?!'

Troy let out a huge breath of air and plopped his distressed body down into the nearest chair. 'I don't know man. I really don't know. It's just... every things just so confusing, so murky. I just... I can't even freaking think anymore. I just want to think!'

'Well if you stop talking, then you could think.'

Troy narrowed his eyes and looked up to Chad with a look of disgust on his face. 'Shut up. Seriously. Just shut up.'

Chad cringed at his friends attitude, but pushed it aside and kept going. 'You know, I've been know to be a good listener at times, and even to provide good advice. Why don't you lay your problems on me and I'll see what I can do.'

'Chad. Seriously. My problems are so astronomically huge that you brain would seriously explode before it even got a chance to analyze everything.'

'Astronomically huh? That's pretty huge you know.'

'No shit Chad. That's why I said "astronomically." Sometimes you are just so... so...'

'Don't hurt yourself trying to come up with some flattering adjectives to describe my lovely self. It's too hard, I've tried it before.'

Again, Troy just looked up to his supposed friend with confusion, wishing that at this moment his weird and annoying friend would just shut up and go away.

'But in all seriousness Troy, you can talk to me, open up your heart, tell me what is troubling you my man.'

To say Troy was apprehensive would be an understatement. But he really had no other choices at the moment and this was something that needed to be talked about as soon as possible.

'Fine. Only because you're all I have at the moment. But you have to promise me that whatever comes out of my mouth right here, right now, will never, _never_, leave this room. Got that?'

Chad nodded his head up and down furiously, leaving Troy wondering when his neck would snap and his head would come rolling off. But then he quickly shook those thoughts out of his mind and focused on the many issues at hand.

'Okay... I'm having... well... I'm having... I'm confused, and I'm having doubts. There, I said it.'

There was moment of silence where Chad tried his very best to soak everything in. 'Are you... you know... sure?'

A pissed off expression now appeared on Troy's face. 'If I wasn't sure, do you honestly think I would be discussing this with you right now? I mean, it is _you_ you know. No offense or anything.'

'None taken. But I don't understand what you're confused about. Are you confused about whether or not you should talk to me? Or about the Laker's game last night? Because that had me stressed out too you know, the whole part in the second half whe-'

'Chad, no! Ugh! You're no help.' Troy stood up quickly and made a move for the door, but stopped when he heard Chad calling his name. 'Just talk to me Troy, what are you confused about?'

Troy sighed again before returning to his chair and sitting back down. 'About Joy... and... and Gabriella.'

'That's not very specific Troy. They are two people, yes, I'm very aware of that, two people that you are very close with. But what is the big problem you aren't clearly telling me about?'

'I don't know if I'm suppose to marry Joy at all, or if I should marry her. Maybe I should keep looking, or-'

'Or wait to see if there's any chance with you and Gabs?'

Jackpot. He nailed it.

'You know I don't see her like that Chad.'

'Bull shit you don't. Obviously you do, considering you're having a huge dilemma right now that is mainly based on her. You know, if you had listened to me and Tay all those years ago when we first started picking on the two of you and saying how adorable you were together and that you two were meant to be together, we wouldn't be in this huge mess that we're in right now. Instead, you'd be watching Gabriella walk down the isle today, and not Joy.'

Denial was still spread all over Troy's face. To hear his feelings being spoken, his true feelings and real thoughts finally being processed through his head was one hell of an eye-opener. One that he wasn't ready for. 'Cha-'

'No Troy. Just shut up and listen. You know, you may think that I'm stupid at times, but at other times I really do know what I'm talking about. How do you think Tay can still stand me after all these years? Anyways, that's beside the point.

'For as long as I can remember, Gabi has always been your right hand man, or woman. It's not me, and I'm okay with that. She's always the one you go to first, always the one you look to for support and advice, always the one that knows the inside joke before I do or anyone else for that matter. She's the one that picks you up when you fall, assuming you didn't fall on top of her first. She's the one that deals with your moods and attitudes, while everyone else just leaves you be. She's persistent when it comes to you, and she can't go a day without talking to you. I can tell if she's around just by looking at your face, the smile you have just for her is priceless. She's an incredible girl, and you're an incredible guy. Together you two are unstoppable and one hell-of-a pair.'

'Like I said Troy, I've always been rooting for the two of you to take it to the next level, but you just wouldn't let it go there. Do you remember that time when you told all of us that you could never be anything more with Gabi because she was like a sister to you? Well, she knows about all of that, and I was there when she found out. The look in her eyes Troy... it broke my heart to see that look. She looked like she had just lost everything: hope, a future, love, happiness. It was all gone.'

'She loves you man, with every ounce in her body whether she ever admits it to you or not. You will always be the reason that she has such a hard time going on dates, the reason she may never get married or have kids, the reason her heart barely exists any more, the reason she's always so depressed.'

'Now, I don't mean to make you feel miserable or anything, but sometimes I wonder if you even see this for yourself. She's a disaster Troy, and it's all because she can't have you, and Joy can. It's all because she's just like a sister to you.'

A single tear escaped his eye as his head fell down into his hands. Defeat was what he was feeling right now, among many other things. Chad had figured him out and in return had slapped him with a taste of reality. Gabriella was falling apart; Gabriella had already fallen apart.

With his head still down he finally spoke up, 'I don't know what to do man. I mean, it's my freaking wedding day for crying out loud. Joy is expecting to become Mr. Troy Bolton today. She has a heart and feelings too, I can't just pretend that she doesn't exist.' His eyes were red now and sweat was gracing his forehead, the idea of deciding his future in just a matter of a select few hours finally dawning on him.

'Listen Troy, I can't tell you what to do, and Tay would probably kill me if I did, but all I can do is tell you what I know. Gabriella is your other half, your better half actually. She makes you happy, unlike Joy could ever do. When the two of you are together fireworks explode. Seriously.'

'Gabriella has been going through hell ever since you and Joy first started dating, and honestly, she's going to keep going through hell until it ends or somehow you just stop existing or something strange like that happens. She's a wreck, and you haven't seemed to notice, but she is. She is so completely in love with you it's mind boggling.'

'But you do what you have to do man, you do what your heart tells you to do, not your head. That's never the thing to trust. It's not about right and wrong, or who's heart to break or not to break. It's about what you, Troy Bolton wants. This is your future we're talking about Troy, yours. I don't want you to be living a life that you don't want and being miserable. Just take some time and reflect on all of your experiences with Gabi, and all of your experiences with Joy, and see how you feel about them both. Just listen you yourself Troy, that's all you can do.'

Troy nodded his head in understanding and got up to give Chad a really heart felt hug that showed him how much his words meant to him. After patting his shoulder one last time, Chad headed towards the door to leave. 'Just remember Troy, I'm going to be here for you no matter what you decided, that's what friends are for. It's your life, and I'm just coming along to enjoy the journey.'

Chad exited the room and left Troy and his thoughts to himself. Tears were coming at a faster rate now on Troy's face, but he brushed them away and walked over to the window where he sat down and tried to figure out his past and his future. Chad told him to listen to his heart, not his head, so that's what he spent the next few hours trying to do. Would he finish examining every single memory and feeling he ever shared and felt with both of the women though, before he was expected to stand up in front of a church full of people and profess his love to Joy? Could he actually pull all of this off?

**AN: Sorry if this was long and boring, but so many of you have been asking for Troy's point of view in all of this, so I felt I owed it to you. I hope you can see things differently or better. Again, please check out my new short story Losing Her Grace, and be looking out for a few new ones too! Ideas just keep coming to me. Please help make this day better and review!! And Happy Easter!**

**Up Next: The Wedding. If there ever is one ;)**

**FiFi xoxo**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I can't even begin to explain why this has taken so long, again. But here it is. And this will be the last chapter that is posted for some time now unfortunately, unless I get enough reviews and encouragement to write the next chapter in the next 5 days. I'm going to Italy for 10 days and when I get back it's prom time, so as you can tell I'm kind of occupied. The purpose of this chapter is to show Troy's dilemma again. But this will be the last of Troy's POV for a while, as it's time to focus on Gabs again. This is pretty much a filler, but I worked hard on it so I pray that you don't hate it. Oh, and this chapter is made possible by xo LAILAIxo. Thanks chica, I couldn't have done it without you!!**

**Warning: Strong language, please be warned. If you are not a fan of foul language, then I apologize in advance**

**Disclaimer: I only own Joy, Matt, Corey, and the story line.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_**May 2, 1999 – Ten Years Ago**_

"I seriously couldn't love spring time any more," said Matt, one of Troy's gym classmates.

"And why is that?" asked Corey, another classmate.

"Because now is when the girls start to wear less and less clothing. I mean, come on guys, don't tell me you couldn't stop starting at them too."

They all laughed and agreed and shared their special manly handshakes. Except for Troy that is.

They were currently in the boys locker room changing back into their regular clothes. Troy's locker was in the middle of almost everyones, so he always heard everyone else's conversations. Todays number one topic though was a soft spot for Troy, and he wasn't sure how much more of it he could take.

"I swear, the legs on that Montez girl, they just get me thinking really bad things," said Matt again. "Like, can't you just imagine yourself, just, gosh, feel those babies rub up and down your own skin?" He had a far away look on his face that made Troy want to strangle his neck and run him over with his car again, and again, and again, and.. well you get it. "She's one hot chick, that's for sure."

The color of Troy's fists were definitely not natural at that moment, and pretty soon his palms were going to start to bleed from the amount of pressure his nails had going against them.

The guys did this what felt like every day, and Troy would always sit there and try his best to ignore it. But now they were talking about Gabriella, _his_ Gabriella. That was way too far. He slammed his locker shut after he had finally thrown his aqua polo over his head. Turning the sharp corner, he narrowed his eyes on to Matt and charged towards him looking for blood. No one saw Troy coming, and when they finally did it was too late. Troy had Matt in a head lock and was beating him up like there was no tomorrow. No one, _no one,_ would talk about his Ella like that.

The locker room immediately erupted in a riot, the noise level was beyond belief and Troy and Matt were flinging each other around endlessly. Troy knew he was going to have numerous bruises on his face and he could feel blood trickling down his forehead. Punch after punch though he never felt anything, he just heard Matt's words about Gabriella, and that was enough to drive him wild. With every punch he took from Matt though, he gave twice as much.

Soon enough Coach Bolton sprinted into the locker room and tried his best to pry Troy off of Matt, who he currently had pinned down onto the floor. Curse words after curse words were being exchanged, and the rage in Troy's eyes were petrifying. You don't mess with Troy's Gabriella.

An hour later Troy found himself walking into his empty house after he had been ordered to go home and was given a two day suspension for his violence. He didn't care though, Gabriella was worth it. But man, his face was _killing_ him. Deciding he'd take a quick shower before putting ice on his face, he slowly inched his way up to his bathroom, stripped himself of his clothes, and climbed into his steaming hot shower. He took one of the longest showers of his life, and when he was done he reluctantly got out, stepped into the cold air, wrapped a white towel around his waist, and made his way to his bedroom across the hall.

After opening the door he came face to face with the cause behind all of this and felt his heart drop to the ground from the shock bursting through his body. "Gabi! Jesus, you scared the shit out of me!"

A blush quickly rose to her cheeks at the sight in front of her: her best friend, closest companion, secret love, man of her dreams was in nothing but a towel. And a very small towel at that.

Troy noticed her lack of speaking and looked down at himself to see that he was still in only a towel. "Oh, crap. I just got out of the shower. I'm gonna change, you can just.. umm... turn around I guess."

_Did he just say "I guess?!" _Thought Gabriella.

Oh well, Gabriella turned around and waited patiently for Troy to change before hearing him tell her he was done and that she could turn around again. Once she did she noticed much more clearly what had happened to him physically that afternoon.

"Troy! Oh my god, how did this happen!" Worry was etched all of her face as she rushed over to him and gently placed her hand on his cheek.

He shook his head and tried to move past her and hoped that she would drop the subject, but she certainly didn't and kept questioning what had happened.

"It's nothing Gabriella, okay? Nothing happened." Annoyance was heard in his response as he didn't want to talk about it anymore, because he knew if he did, he'd have to tell her the real reason why he beat the shit out of Matt.

Gabriella in return looked at Troy like he had six heads. "And you actually expect me to believe that bull? Wow Troy, I thought you knew me better."

All Troy could do was look down in shame. He hated lying to her and being an idiot, but this for the best.

"Please Gabriella, I don't want to talk about it."

Her eyes stayed on him the entire time that he talked, while his head was down and looking at his bare feet. He didn't have the courage to look into those pained eyes.

And when he finally did he wanted to slap himself for being the cause of the clearly glossed over brown orbs.

"Fine," she whispered under her breath. She had a permanent frown on her face and felt completely rejected. They never lied to each other and most certainly never held anything back from one another; it was just a basic rule for the two of them.

And for him to just go and break that like it was nothing killed her. They had _promised,_ after all.

Gabriella quickly turned on her heel and made her way to his door. She easily turned the knob and walked away from him, secretly waiting for him to run after her. But she never heard him and kept on walking down the hall and stairs and towards her kitchen where her purse was laying. Once she had that gathered up, she made her way for the front door, still with the same pained face on. The door was halfway opened when she suddenly felt it being slammed shut again.

Confusion took over her body before she turned around to come face to face with the only pair of blue eyes in this world that made her go weak in the knees. He kept his hand on the door and he seemed to be caging her in, with no complaints coming out of her mouth of course. The look in his eyes was a mixture of sorrow, embarrassment, and the knowledge that he had just screwed up. Quite the combination.

Instead of words, Troy simply took Gabriella's hand in his own and lead her to his den where he sat them both down on his enormous leather couch.

When they were both comfortable, one of Troy's hands left her arm to connect with his face as he rubbed it forgetting all of the bruising that was covering it. His other hand though was still holding hers.

"Alright, listen. I got in a fight with some of the guys from my gym class and it got a little out of hand. That's why my face looks like shit and I'm home early. Happy now?"

First she was confused, then she was a little relieved, and now she was pissed.

"_Happy now?!_ What the hell do you mean am I happy now? What the hell ever happened to us being honest with one another. And before you open your mouth again, clearly what you just said isn't the entire story, so no, you aren't being all that honest with me. God Troy, what the hell has gotten into you these days?! I mean, is it so hard to just tell me what the fuck happened? You promised me this would never happen! We would never become like that; communication is something we always focus on. What makes you think that right now you can just start to fuck with that? I'm in this relationship too you know, I'm apart of the whole 'you and me' concept. So why don't you for one god damn second take a step back from you huge ass mirror and look around! Look around and you'll find me, all by her freakin self because _someone_ just doesn't seem to care anymore!"

She ripped her body free of his and ran to his front door, not even caring that her purse, cell phone and keys were all still inside of his house. Yeah, maybe she had overreacted a little bit, but that's what happens when someone decides to go back on a promise.

His mouth hung open as his eyes were still fixated on the bare spot on the couch where just seconds ago she had occupied; and where seconds ago she had just ripped him to shreds.

Gabriella had never yelled at him before in his entire life and actually mean it. But it was more than clear that she meant every single word that came out of her mouth, and something inside of him felt like it was bound to happen sooner or later. It seemed like she was holding a lot of things in herself, and she just couldn't do it anymore.

He was shocked and scared, because he hated fighting with her. Going a day without talking to her was like going a day without doritos. It was just the type of thing that had to happen.

The weirdest part about all of this though, was that something about the way that her voice sounded when she was screaming at him cause certain feelings inside of him. His heart beat picked up and he could feel his blood rushing to his brain. It was all a big rush, and a good one at that. Hearing her talk to him like that was kind of exciting, and... well... almost a turn on.

Oh god, did he just think that? Shit.

_**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**_

Troy would never forget that day for as long as he lived. After she ran away and his feelings for her became all to present, he somehow managed to get up off of the couch, gather her belongings and make his way over to her house to return them and apologize. He knew what he did was wrong, but for some reason he was having a hard time telling her that she was the reason his face was a complete disaster.

But he had told her in the end, and the look on her face when he said that she was the reason was one that would always be embedded in his memory. She didn't use it ofter, if at all ever, and it only lasted for a few minutes. Her eyes had immediately softened her a glow radiated off of her cheeks. Hope was clearly seen in her eyes, and maybe even lust too.

It all disappeared though when he spoke the dreaded line: "You're like my sister Gabs, I couldn't just sit back and let them talk that way about you like that. What kind of a brother would I be then?"

All Gabriella could do at that point was just nod her head whisper a thank you, before giving him one last hug and faking a yawn indicating that she was "tired" and that he should head home. He didn't catch up on that part though. You know, that part when her heart started breaking? Yeah, that one.

At this precise moment on his wedding day, Troy still sat in the same position Chad had left him while he allowed all of these precious memories to flood his brain.

It was becoming too much for him to handle, and before he could continue on with his debate over whether he should marry Joy today or not, another memory popped into his mind.

_**August 29, 2008**_

To say that Troy was nervous would clearly be an understatement. His hands were sweating uncontrollably and his legs were shaking. He was pretty sure his clothes were drenched in sweat by this point and he didn't know how much longer he could take.

Doing what he was about to do really hadn't taken much time to decide on at all, which was rather strange. It was almost as if he felt so pressured into doing this that he just did it to get everybody off of his back.

He wasn't nervous that she would say no either, actually he was pretty sure that she would say yes. Troy even found himself not exactly putting as much effort into this event as any other normal guy that should be head over heels in love with their soon to be fiancé. Instead he followed the books and was doing this the typical way: at a fancy restaurant that she loved.

The ring was sitting in his coat pocket and all he was waiting for now was her limo to come pulling up to the restaurant entrance. His speech was replaying over and over again in his mind when he suddenly spotted the black Lincoln approaching him.

Gracefully, her legs exited the limo and she straightened her red dress that hugged every curve she had.

The first thing that entered his mind though was Gabriella's eyes, and they way they always shined differently when she was wearing red.

No, tonight is about Joy and making her happy. Gabs is just your best friend.

"Hey stranger," spoke Joy as she engulfed Troy in a tight hug. "Hey yourself, you ready to head in?"

"Of course." She lopped her arm in Troy's and together they made their way inside. After they both handed over their belongings to the coat check, Troy made sure to compliment Joy on her appearance. Of course she gratefully accepted and returned the favor.

Joy was always such a sweetheart and her grace and positive outlook on life never ceased to amaze him. She was so different from so many of the other girls he'd ever met. Whenever he looked at her, he saw a stay at home wife that would always do the chores, take care of the children, cook a full course dinner, and give him a massage if need be. She often reminded him of Bree from Desperate Housewives, but with a little less OCD.

Personally though, Troy kind of liked Gaby better because of her looks, but if she had more of Susan's down-to-earth personality, then she'd be perfect. They kind of reminded Troy of Gabriella.

The dinner was spent talking about anything and everything that came to their minds, but Joy spent most of the time talking; she always did. It wasn't that Troy minded or anything or that Joy was just so full of herself, Troy just seemed to hold back a little more when it came to Joy.

Nonetheless, Troy listened carefully to every word that came out of her mouth, all the while imagining them having conversations thirty years from now if he actually went through with his plans for the night.

A small part of himself was reacting rather strange though to this idea; it was almost as if he's rather _not_ have to do this with her for the next thirty or more years. Oh god, why was he feeling like this right now of all times? Crap.

Soon enough their meals were digested and their dessert was being prepared. This was it, Troy thought. He couldn't do it after dessert, or tomorrow. He had to do it in the next few minutes when their desserts came out. It was now or never.

_**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**_

And as they say, the next is history. That may be history, but what is his future? Man, he was confused as hell. To marry Joy, or not to marry Joy. To be with Gabriella or not to be with Gabriella. To live a life of misery and regret, or to live a life of pure happiness and contentment.

"Ugh! What is your problem Troy! Just figure out what you want already!" His feet lifted his body up off of the ground and he made a charge towards the outdated walls, aiming his fist for the center.

But before the two objects could make contact, a knock was heard on his door and his body was frozen.

"It's time man," said Chad.

Shit.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it! I really hope that the wait was worth it and that you liked it. I know this isn't the wedding yet, but I have some things to get through before we get there. So please be patient, and again, if I get enough reviews and encouragement, then maybe you'll get another chapter either Friday or Saturday. If not, I'll see you when I return from Europe!! And make sure you check out my other new story, Losing Her Grace, too! Review!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Don't judge me on the dates that I use, obviously nothings exact. And you're about to read this chapter for the simple fact that the reviews for the last chapter were overwhelming! See what happens when you're really nice and hit the review button? You all blew me away with the last chapter, please do the same for this one! I'll have something to look forward to when I get home from Italy!! (I leave tomorrow!)**

**This chapter is dedicat****e****d to World of Peace. My smile couldn't have gotten any bigger after reading your review!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

_**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**_

"Gabi do you know where this goes?"

"Hey, have you seen Clare?"

"Where are we suppose to sit?"

"Gab-"

Everyones voices left her head as she made a run for the nearest door in her sight and slammed it shut behind her.

How the hell was she suppose to know where people were suppose to sit, or where some ugly flowers were suppose to go, or where Clare was? Why the hell would she know that? She's not the god damn wedding planner, she's just a stupid bridesmaid in a stupid wedding for two stupid people.

She didn't mean to say that.

Or did she?

Ugh! She just hated life right now. Here she was, still in this miserable church and in this dress that she hated because it was for Troy's wedding and it wasn't her wedding dress. She couldn't become any more miserable right now, and the thought of having to walk down an isle and see Troy at the end, but know when she reached him she would have to turn to her left and move on, was killing her.

She couldn't do this, she _wouldn't_ do this. This was too much. Sure, she was Troy's best friend, but how much could she actually take? This wasn't fair for her, and at that point, all she cared about was herself now. She was so sick and tired of trying to make sure everyone else was happy and that everything else was taken care of, because at the end of the day she was a complete train wreck.

Her sweaty hands found their way to her perfectly applied face and proceeded to ruin the job that had been done on it. Millions and millions of thoughts and feelings were bursting through her brain and she felt like it was going to explode.

A knock on the door though interrupted her many problems and her head snapped up. "I've been looking for you."

It was only Taylor.

"We'll, I haven't been looking for anyone myself."

Taylors face dropped as she recognized the sadness in Gabriella's voice. She shut the door quietly and made her way over to get a chair and pull it up next to Gabriella.

"The wedding's about to start, they need you to walk down the isle."

_No._ This couldn't happen. She knew that they were getting married, and that she'd have to be apart of it, but had she really thought about what she'd do when it _actually_ did happen? Nope, never. A small part of her had been hoping all along that some miracle would happen and Troy would realize that it was her he was suppose to marry and not Joy.

For the first time in what felt like her entire life, Gabriella allowed tears to finally escape her eyes. They were constantly being bottled up and held back with as much force as possible, but when you're pushed so far, there's only so much you can take.

"No."

Taylor gave her a quizzical expression. "Gabs? What are you talking about?"

"I have to go, I have to leave Tay. I can't do this, this isn't right." She angrily bolted up from her chair and started to run towards the door.

"Gabriella!"

Gabriella's chest started to convulse rapidly as staggered breaths were let out. The tears were coming in floods now and soft screeches came out of her mouth.

The hand that had been holding onto the door knob reluctantly let go and slapped the door, as her other hand came up to her face once more and held it. Tears flowed easily off of her face, onto her hand and down her arm. The energy from her body had disappeared, and slowly but surely, her weak body let go and it started to fall to the floor.

"Gabi!" In five easy steps Taylor was able to catch Gabriella's body before she hit the ground. Taking the disaster of a small girl in her arms, Taylor repeated soothing word after soothing word in Gabriella's ear.

The quite cries were no more, as Gabriella had completely let her emotions erupt and the sound of her voice crying was earth-shattering.

"Gabriella, you have to stop." Taylor felt her body rock back and forth to coincide with Gabriella's own rocking body. "Come on Gabs, this isn't like you. You have to be strong, where did that girl go?"

"She left the day I met Troy."

Like it was night and day, Gabriella quickly picked her body up from Taylors, yanked open the door, and left. She was gone.

_**September 18, 1997 – 14 Years Old**_

Moving was never an easy thing, but she always did it. No matter what, she didn't protest, she didn't stomp her foot, and she didn't whine. She was just grateful that she had a sweet and caring mom and that they were able to get by every month. Growing up without a father had made her unbreakable, and she had incredible confidence in herself that she would always be the strong one in any situation.

As far as she knew, nothing could make her weak, and nothing could tear her down.

"Gabi honey, could you go get the last few boxes out of the trailer? I have to make a phone call," asked Cecilia Montez.

"Yup!"

Skipping down the stairs and to the front door, she was greeted with a burst of sunshine from the incredible setting sun when she opened their huge front door. It was absolutely gorgeous in Albuquerque, something Gabi hadn't expected at all.

The trailer had been backed up into their large driveway and it was still open, revealing two rather large boxes sitting in the back. Mustering up all the courage she could, Gabriella leaned down and lifted with her knees. The impact of the actual weight was pretty big, and for a second there she almost lost it, but she kept up her stamina and moved out of the trailer. But once she exited the trailer, all of a sudden she felt like the box was going to fall out of her arms. Her petite body started to tilt forward as she awaited the fall, but was stopped when all of a sudden the box was no longer in her arms, but rather in some strangers arms.

"Woah, almost lost it there, hu?"

Her heart beat picked up uncontrollably and she could feel her palms start to sweat. She was dumb struck, or love struck, which ever you preferred. Her jaw was opened wide and her eyes were solely on his.

"Umm... ?"

"Is this going inside?"

She couldn't get any words out.

"How about I just go set it down in front of the door?"

Gabriella could feel her eyebrows burrow together in confusion, before somehow she was able to nod her head. What felt like an hour later, she finally gained her senses back.

"And you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You must think I'm a jerk for not introducing myself. I'm Troy Bolton, I live next door," spoke the boy as he pointed to the house next to hers.

All she could do was nod her head again.

"And your name is?"

"Oh, sorry! Gabriella. Gabriella Montez. And I live... well here. We just moved here today actually. I was just getting the last few boxes for my mom, but as you saw they were a little too heavy for me to carry."

He chuckled before shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down at his feet. "Well Gabriella, welcome to the neighborhood. It's a pleasure to have you," said Troy with a wink.

Oh god, did he just wink at her? Man, he was something else. Dreamy, irresistible, gorgeous, hot, sexy, sweet, kind, strong... She could go on for days and she had only just met him.

But more than anything else, he had eyes that made her go weak in her knees.

That couldn't be good; she wasn't suppose to ever be weak.

There was a long moment of silence between the two, a comfortable one, before Troy spoke up again. "Would you like to go for a walk?" He seemed nervous upon asking her, but all she could do was blush at the fact that he was nervous around her. "I could show you around a bit. That is, if you're not busy. I don't want to impose on anything, I mean, you just moved in an-"

"Troy! You can stop rambling now." She looked down at her feet and blushed again at how cute he was being. "I'd love to go on a walk with you, just let me go tell me mom. I'll be right back."

Troy nodded his head and couldn't help the huge smile that formed on his face. He watched her go and he couldn't stop his eyes from tracing her entire body. Next thing he knew, she was back outside again and they were walking side by side down her driveway.

That day they walked for one hour and twenty three minutes before they arrived back at Gabriella's house. They talked about the weather, their other neighbors, where Gabriella had been living before New Mexico, what Troy liked to do for fun, what Gabriella's favorite food was, what school she would be attending, little stories from their childhood, and countless other little things that all made up each one of them. They talked about the things that made them each special; unique. They talked about their dreams in life, their regrets, their most embarrassing moments.

And when it was all done and they were standing in front of Gabriella's door, they were both wishing that they could keep talking; it was incredible how comfortable they both felt around one another.

But they reluctantly parted ways eventually, and Troy even gave her a huge and sweet hug, leaving her weak in the knees once more.

After she was inside and she had shut the door, she found her body sliding helplessly down the wooden door and landing on the marble floor.

She had just met this boy, yet she knew already that he was going to effect her in ways that she'd never been effected before.

This was _not_ suppose to happen.

_**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**_

Two large, tall, and heavy wooden doors were pulled open by two men on either side of it. The sound of classical music now filled everyone's ears who had been standing behind those doors. In their eye sight were now dozens and dozens of flowers, people and decorations.

"I can't find her!" whispered Taylor harshly into Chad's ear. Chad kept his smile on his face as he muttered back his reply. "How could you lose her Tay? How could you fucking _lose _Gabriella?"

This wasn't good, not good at all. Everyone was partnered up, except for Billy, one of Troy's groomsmen. He was standing at the very back with a confused expression on his face.

"Shit."

Taylor reluctantly slid her arm into Chad's, and together they made their dreaded walk down the isle to what was to be one hell of a wedding.

* * *

**A/N: Now, I worked very hard on this chapter in order to get it to you before I leave for Italy, so it would be extremely nice of you to at least leave a one word review. I'm off to go pack! Expect an update on this story around the first week of May. Give me something to look forward to when I get home! Review!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Gosh, I feel horrible! I can't believe how long I've actually kept you waiting, my apologies into the next century!! I just want to say thank you all for the warm wishes for my vacation to Italy; it was incredible!! It's my new paradise, and I wish I was still there 3.**

**Also, I just want to express my sincere thank yous and appreciation for all of the support and love for this story. 21 reviews for the last chapter!! Wow!! Do you think we can beat that for this one?!**

**Enough rambling... I've kept you waiting long enough. I hope this was worth it! Review!!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_Previously_

"_I can't find her!" whispered Taylor harshly into Chad's ear. Chad kept his smile on his face as he muttered back his reply. "How could you lose her Tay? How could you fucking lose Gabriella?"_

_This wasn't good, not good at all. Everyone was partnered up, except for Billy, one of Troy's groomsmen. He was standing at the very back with a confused expression on his face. _

"_Shit."_

_Taylor reluctantly slid her arm into Chad's, and together they made their dreaded walk down the aisle to what was to be one hell of a wedding._

**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**

Before Troy could even think, he felt his body being riped out of his thoughts and the next thing he knew, his body was standing up in front of a church filled with friends and family. It had all happened way too fast and he hadn't even gotten a chance to decided what he was going to do. But now it didn't matter, because clearly he couldn't get out of this wedding after all.

So did that just mean that he was giving up on Gabriella and all of his feelings for her? Wait, he had feelings for her? Finally, what felt like twenty years later, he could actually admit the truth. The truth that he has been taunted with for the most part of his life. And it was too freakin late, good one Troy.

The music was starting up and soon enough, two large doors at the opposite end of the long church opened up wide. At first, nothing happened, and then he saw some people that he knew appear. Bridesmaids and groomsmen were paired up and walking down the long and flower covered aisle.

Chad and Taylor were towards the end of the line of couples, and when Chad appeared, a wave of guilt and misery washed over Troy's body.

He couldn't do this, and Chad knew it.

Troy's head dropped down to his chest in order to avoid the look in Chad's eyes, and he let out a deep breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. He could feel Chad's presence next to him eventually, and when he realized that the music still hadn't changed to signal the entrance of the bride, he lifted his eyes up and down the aisle in confusion.

And then he lost his breath.

There she was.

Her arms were looped in no one else's but rather held a small bouquet of cream Hydrangeas and Roses. Her blue dress flew from her body as she swiftly walked in a straight line, causing her to create her own wind and her hair was blowing back. Her face was radiating, but there was something about her face that looked wet.

Troy's eyes were burning into her body and there was no possibility that they would leave her. A huge smile graced his face and he could feel himself sweating at how nervous she was making him.

Another strange thing about her was that she wasn't smiling back at him. He waited, and he hoped, but he got nothing.

When she finally reached him, he felt his heart break and his eyes blink for the first time since he had first laid eyes on her when he saw her body move away from him and to his right.

Where was she going? Oh, to stand next to Taylor.

He wasn't marrying _her_.

The air within him stopped flowing and he felt himself cough, before Chad gave him a soft hit on his back to ease him of his trouble. He knew that was also Chad's nice way of hitting Troy on the head for what he was currently doing to Gabriella's heart.

Gabriella on the other hand had kept the same straight, emotionless, yet painful face on the entire time. Her walking down the aisle was a surprise to both Chad and Taylor, for they thought that she had run. And they definitely didn't expect her to come back, and they definitely wouldn't blame her if she didn't.

But she had come back, because Troy was her best friend. It was her duty. Would she want her best friend to just disappear from her wedding? No, she would actually prefer that her best friend was the groom in her wedding, but sometimes dreams don't come true.

Gabriella knew that if she didn't show up to his wedding and walk down that dreadful aisle, Troy would become worried, and he would stop the wedding until he knew where she was. Being the cause of Troy not marrying Joy was not what she wanted at all; it was the reason why she had kept her mouth shut the entire time Troy and Joy dated; why she was monotone when they were engaged; and why she had sneaked out the back door at their rehearsal dinner so she could go and slap the brick wall outside the restaurant and cry her eyes out before slipping down the cold wall to the filthy ground; why when Chad had found her, all she asked for was to be taken home so she could drown in her misery; why Troy was told she had forgotten she had to be somewhere else that night so that Troy wouldn't come after her and see her in her condition.

She was doing this all for Troy.

This mental breakdown? All for Troy.

The music finally did change and once again he was forced to tear his eyes off of Gabriella's stunning body and towards the doors in the back.

His breathing didn't stop, but he did feel a little mesmerized. Joy was stunning, as would any bride on their wedding day be, Troy had told himself.

Her smile was contagious and he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning upwards. Joy made Troy happy, there was no denying it, but, was she the one he wanted to spend the _rest of his life _with? Did he really want to wake up next to _her _every single day that he lived, from now until he died? Clearly he had asked her to marry him, so he must have wanted to at the time.

But did he anymore? Why had his feelings changed all of a sudden?

Before Troy knew it, he was grabbing Joy's hands and the two of them were facing each other at the front of the alter. Oh my god, he was actually going to do it. He felt like he was going to pass out.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join together this man and this woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted of God in Paradise, and into which holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined."

_To be joined... forever_, thought Troy.

He took a deep breath in and felt Joy tighten her grip on his hands. Troy's eyes couldn't help but automatically wonder over to Gabriella, taking in her body once again. When his eyes reached her face though, he saw that she didn't even notice his stare, and she wasn't even looking in his direction. She didn't even seem to be looking at anything actually, just staring off into space. And she still had that same blank stare going on; a stare that for the first time in what felt like forever Troy finally noticed.

"If any man can show any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace."

Troy kept his eyes on Gabriella's face, begging her to say something, to do something, to show any signs that she was actually human, but he got nothing; she remained frozen in her spot.

His eyes then washed over the church filled with people and again silently begged for someone to say something, but no one did. The priest continued.

"I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be..."

There was something in the air that day in the church, and not one person in there could deny that they didn't feel it. There were flowers everywhere, tears falling, and beautiful things gracing everyone, yet it all still felt wrong.

Joy's hands were kept in Troy's as she continued to stare deeply into his eyes. At times he would stare back, and at other times he would look away and search frantically elsewhere with his eyes. She could feel his apprehension and hesitance radiating off of his body.

What should she do?

Gabriella on the other hand was still staring off into space, no thoughts going through her mind, and no emotions displayed on her face. Just existence. Just like a statue.

Chad and Taylor had been glancing back and forth between Troy, Gabriella, and each other the entire ceremony. Worry was etched on both of their faces and they just didn't know how to handle this situation, or if they should even do anything.

Maybe they just needed to let fate take this in his hands and do with it what he pleases.

So many people were upset about what was going to happen and struggling inside of themselves to find a solution, but if you asked Gabriella what she felt about all of this, she'd lie. It's what she's become an expert at when it comes to Troy and her true feelings.

"...to prove his allegation; then the solemnization must be deferred, until such time as the truth be tried."

Motions to Troy: "Will you have this Woman to be your wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all other, keep thee only unto her, so long as you both shall live?"

Silence.

A pin could be heard being dropped if need be, as everyone held their breaths and waited for the simple two words to be spoken.

Sweat was dripping down his forehead and he couldn't even hear himself think. He didn't even know that he was suppose to say something. His grip on Joy's hands had tightened immensely, but only for the reason that he was so nervous and worried about making the right decision.

He couldn't do it. He just, he just, he couldn-

"I will."

It came out so fast and so panicked that after he said it he cursed himself for it. But maybe it was a sign that he really did want to marry her. Maybe.

Gabriella felt a huge lump in her throat being swallowed, as she tried desperately to keep her composure together. When he said those two words, her body didn't flinch and she showed no more or no less emotion. She just continued to keep it all inside.

Motions to Joy: "Will you have this Man to be your wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as you both shall live?"

Joy searched Troy's eyes for a few moments, debating her next move; debating her future; debating her life, before taking a huge deep breath in.

"I will."

There is another moment of silence throughout the church as the priest re-organizes himself and prepares for the next part of the ceremony.

Troy found himself tapping his foot ever so slightly, begging for things to get moving, and secretly begging for someone to interrupt the ceremony and insist that they don't go through with the wedding.

But no one did.

"Please repeat your vows Troy," ordered the priest.

Trying to take control over his emotions once again before speaking, Troy fixed his body and posture before continuing on.

"I, Troy, take you Joy to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, for fairer or fouler, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereunto I pledge my heart."

Whew. That was hard.

But when Joy's turn to speak came next, she felt her stomach turning. Something just wasn't right up there with Troy. This wasn't her Troy that she had come to know and love; something was definitely off with him.

"Please repeat your vows Joy," asked the priest once more.

Joy released a large breath that she didn't realize she was holding and forced herself to make an executive decision right then and there.

"...I...Joy...take thee...Troy...t- ...I can't"

Gabriella's head snapped so fast towards the engaged couple for the first time during the entire ceremony that others would have thought it would fall off. Her eyes bore into the backside of Joy's body and anxiously awaited her next words.

"...I...I can't do this Troy."

Troy's eyes were scanning her entire face, looking for God only knows what. He was shaking his head and their hands had released themselves from one another's. There was a large gasp heard throughout the entire congregation and the priest took a few steps back.

Chad couldn't stop the small smirk from forming on his face, and the same went for Taylor.

Gabriella's face was finally showing emotion; the first being nerves and anxiety. Could this actually be happening?

"Joy...I don't understand?"

He did understand though, he completely understood. He didn't want to marry her, and she knew it. But he didn't actually think that someone was going to stop this event from happening, least of all the very own bride.

"Yes you do Troy. This isn't right. I can't do this...I can't be in the reason you never get your true happiness, I'd never be able to live with myself. I'd be selfish if I actually went through with this wedding."

Still, Troy's eyebrows stayed burrowed together, not fully comprehending that this was actually happening.

"But...I just...I don't get it," Troy was completely exasperated.

Joy lowered her voice when she continued, "I can see it in your eyes every time she's around Troy. And it's okay, you love her, I'm okay with that. I'm just not your soul mate; she is. And for you to not be with her but to be with me instead is just wrong Troy. I can't be the cause of your pain, I would hate myself for doing that. You two deserve each other, more than any other two people in this world. What you have with her is beautiful; something I'll always be jealous of. But that type of love only comes around once, so go after it Troy; go after her."

Troy's eyes had since softened at Joy's incredibly sweet words. He was one lucky guy to have someone so understanding saying all of this. But he became more nervous when he looked out at the congregation who were all sitting at the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen next.

Well what did happen next was sure as hell surprising.

"I loved every minute with you Troy, and I'll always remember the love and hope you gave me. There's no hard feelings, I promise. Now go do what you've been dying to do your whole lif-"

The sound of high heels clicking on the hardwood floor entered everyone's head. Both Troy and Joy whipped their heads around to see where it was coming from, and Troy's eyes caught on the light blue chiffon dress flowing backwards from the man made wind; on the gorgeous brown curly locks becoming loose and free; on the incredible figure running away from him.

She was running. Again.

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dun... Before I started writing this story, I had an intention with it and where I wanted it to go. But I don't think I'm going to do what I was going to do any more because I feel that this story is coming to an end soon. Only one or two more chapters, sadly. Then I'm going to finish my other short story Losing Her Grace (Check it out & review if you haven't already!) and after these two stories are done, I'll be starting my brand new nice and long story!! I'm so excited to be writing a bigger, more in depth story again, just like how I did with Hidden Desire. Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait, I feel horrible, but I've had so much going on! I had prom, a crazy amount of school work, and I just got back from NYC and visiting a college.**

**Oh, and I love to make graphics, something that I talk about in my profile, so if you ever need an custom made avatar, or want a siggy or blend or graphic for one of your stories, feel free to request one! Just follow the link in my profile to MVF!**

**So please tell me what you think of this chapter and everything else I've said! Review!!**

**xFiFi**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello again, and so sorry that this took so long. Now I know that a lot of people are going to want to hunt me down after saying this, but this is the second to last chapter sadly. I know, I know! An earlier warning is always necessary, but this was actually going to be the last chapter before I decided to split it up. I want to thank ALL of my reviewers for the last chapter and for this entire story; you've all been beyond incredibly amazing. You've made me so happy, and I hope that I can satisfy you with the beginning of the end of this story, one of my favorites.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Joy.**

* * *

_She was running. Again._

**Chapter 8**

_**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**_

Gasps once again blasted through the church as Troy's eyes still remained on the church doors opposite him.

"Where the hell is she going?" screeched Taylor.

No words came out of Troy's mouth; just bugged out eyes and confusion.

Joy was the only person in the church who seemed to catch on to what Gabriella was doing and why she was doing it. "Go" she whispered. "Go!"

Troy's head snapped around as his worried eyes met Joy's. "What?" he muttered out of his opened mouth.

"Go. Go after her Troy! Go get her!"

He turned around to face Chad who seemed to encourage him on, and turned the opposite way to see Taylor in her frantic state. Then he took one more glance towards Joy to make sure that this was really what she wanted.

"Don't look at me, move your feet and go get her you moron!"

In what felt like a blink of the eye, Troy's feet sprang from his position and he was bolting down the aisle that was meant for him and Joy to walk down hand in hand.

This day could not get any weirder in Troy's eyes. He started the day off by having a panic attack over putting his cuff links on and then he was asking Gabriella if he was doing the right thing by marrying Joy. She had said yes, plain and simple. And he had believed her.

Then he continued to freak out and was pacing around his dressing room for what felt like hours before he found Chad and pulled him by the collar into his room. Chad, being the only person he had, was the person he let it all out on and even vented to him, which in a way helped, but it also didn't help.

Chad definitely did open Troy's eyes to how Gabriella was acting these past few months and all. He realized for the first time in basically forever how hurt she was about all of this. And Troy was also shocked to see how enlightening Chad could be; something he never would have imagined from his best bud. But he was glad that he had.

And for the first time in a long time, Troy had cried. He needed to listen to his heart, not his head. And right now his heart was telling him to chase after the girl of his dreams and prove to her that he doesn't think of her as his sister any more; he never even did. He just didn't want to hurt her, and he could never bare to lose her. But that was just a risk he'd have to take if he really loved her this much.

Gabriella on the other hand had no intention of stopping her feet from taking her as far away from this disastrous wedding as humanly possible. Being in there was torture, and by the end of it she was pretty sure she was going to start crying from sheer humility.

So she did the only thing she was good at; she ran.

When she felt her heels hit the hardwood and heard the noise it created, her desire to get out of that fire trap increased tremendously. Her hair was blowing all around her and she was sure she probably had a few Marilyn moments on her way out, but she didn't care.

For most of her life she had to look from afar as girl after girl took away her dreams. She spent twenty six years staring at him with desire and love in her eyes; with so much attraction that it was mind boggling. But she was just an ordinary girl who was afraid of rejection so the thought of every telling Troy how she truly felt was out of the question. If she did tell him there were many different reactions that she could get.

One: he could laugh in her face and ask her why she would ever think that _he_ would like _her_ in such a way. Two: He would reject her and things would become _extremely_ awkward between the two. Three: He would think she was a creep for feeling that way about _him _and never want to talk to her again. And well, there were a lot more reasons that she had come up with but not enough time in the day to talk about them.

So she kept her mouth shut and thus started her web of lies.

For the past ten years or so Troy had been dating girl after girl, each one lasting a short time, some a little longer, but never the less there was always a girl. Gabriella couldn't help but treasure the short few weeks in between girls where he was single and she had him all to herself. They would always do crazy things during those times, things that made her so happy it was indescribable. They were things that she would live for.

But it all came to a complete crashing halt sixteen months ago when Troy met Joy.

Oh Joy.

She was such a charmer that it drove Gabriella mad. There was nothing wrong with her and Troy was dazzled by her. Once more in her life, Gabriella was shoved to the back seat struggling to keep her head afloat. But either way she did it and she did it with grace. She never disclosed her true feelings and she was never caught crying. Troy was happy, and if he was happy then she could force herself to be happy too; or so she thought.

Pushing through those tall dark wooden doors wasn't as hard as she thought, and once that was done her small body burst through and out of the church. She didn't know where she was going or when she would stop, or how she would even explain all of her actions to anyone, but she didn't care at the moment. She just kept running.

Coming to a stop when she reached the last step of the church, she let her eyes take in the sight of the city in front of her. Directly across form her was Albuquerque's state park, to the right was a busy street, and to the left was a busy street. She decided with going left and just bolting it down the sidewalk.

She hit shoulders with some people, all the while muttering "excuse me" and "sorry" but not stopping once. She could feel her heart beat all the way up in her head and she could even feel some sweat beginning to form on her forehead. Her breathing was so loud she was sure anyone in a ten foot radius could hear her. Her heels were still clicking on the pavement and she didn't want to stop and take them off. At one point she told herself that she could stop running, because in reality what, or who, is she running from anyways? It's not like anyone would ever chase after her; why would they? She's not needed for that wedding to take place anyways.

Her feet wouldn't stop moving, and they wouldn't slow down. She felt like she was miles away when she finally thought she heard her name being called. She inched her head around to see who was behind her, but saw no one she noticed. Deciding she needed to switch her location and wanting to make it to the other side of the street, Gabriella carefully pushed through some more people to get to the edge of the sidewalk.

When she did she looked both ways once again, only to see tons of traffic blowing past her. It must have been rush hour, she thought.

The crosswalk wasn't anywhere near where she was, and she really wanted to cross the street right then and there.

Taking a deep breath in she let her right foot hit the street as she braced to run across, praying that the cars would stop if they saw her. It being a two way street, her head was continually looking left then right, then left and then right again, before she swore she saw a break in the traffic and took it as her cue to go.

Troy had been right on her feet the entire time she was running; well not technically, he was a ways back. But for the most part, she was always in his sight.

The movement of her body to the edge of the sidewalk confused him, and before he could stop her he saw her petite frame sprinting to the other side.

In a frantic mode, his feet picked up tremendous speed and he even heard himself screaming. Troy's head whipped from left to right, praying that she had chosen the right time to cross the street, when he saw something you only see in the movies.

"Gabriella!"

His heart was beating so fast it was surely going to burst through his tux any second. People were turning to look at him and question why he was randomly screaming; therefore they missed the tragic sight in just the other direction.

"Gabi! Oh god. MOVE!"

Troy felt his body jump over trash barrels and bushes as he darted towards the beautiful brunette sprawled out in the street.

Gabriella heard her name being called once again, and something inside of her made her stop and turn. That was one of the biggest mistakes of her life.

Feeling the burst of air blowing on her body and taking her hair up and back as well as her dress, along with the sounds of car horns, Gabriella once more turned in a different direction to face her fate.

Earth shattering screams came from her mouth as she braced herself for the painful impact of the oncoming car to hit her body. And when it finally did, she was out like a light.

The last thought passing through her brain was that Troy had run after her.

"GABI!"

Shoving people out of his way and making sure that he was the first person to reach her, Troy collapsed by her side when he finally did.

People were swarming around them and he screamed for them to back up and call the police. His eyes never left her crushed body, and he tried his very best not to pick her up and cradle her in his arms. He knew he was running a risk of damaging her body even further if he moved her the slightest inch.

Instead, he picked up her hand as carefully as possible and brought his lips down to it to lather it with his warm kisses. Blood was running down her face a little and he could already see numerous bruises forming.

He could hear people asking what had happened, questioning who she was, questioning who _he_ was, but he blocked it all out; his attention was solely on her.

"Come on Gabi…stay with me…please baby…don't let go…I'm here, right here…I'm not going anywhere, and neither should you."

He lowered his head to her face and smoothed soft kisses all over her face; over her closed eyelids dusted with eye shadow, up and around her tan Latina forehead, down her utterly adorable small nose, across her impeccable cheekbones, trailed her jaw, and finished on her dreamy lips.

All the while Gabriella didn't move an inch, but Troy still had hope that she was going to pull through this. All he could do was stare down at her lifeless body and take in every inch of her that he had been missing out on all of these years; these twenty-six years. Why hadn't he noticed sooner? What if this really was the end for her and he would never, ever get his chance with her? He would never be able to forgive himself.

Sirens could be heard in the distance, but he kept his eyes on hers, pleading with God to let brown meet blue once more. But he got nothing.

He felt someone's hand on his right shoulder and even felt his body being pushed away, but he shoved the person off of him.

"Sir, I need you to move. I need to check this woman out."

Troy just nodded his head no, his face emotionless and frozen, not letting his eyes wander from her body.

"Sir? Sir! You need to move."

"No," whispered Troy. "I've left her behind so many times in my life, I can't add one more time to that list, I'm not going anywhere."

Realizing this man had some type of a relationship with the woman lying on the pavement, the EMT let the man be and moved to the woman's other side.

"Fine, if you're going to hold her hand, then just hold her hand, don't move her body at all please Sir, okay?"

Troy felt his head ever so slowly move up and down.

"Can someone tell me what happened?"

"She ran…from me…she was running, and she decided to cross the street. I screamed her name and tried my best to stop her…I just wanted her to stop running. But she didn't hear me until it was too late. That car hit her dead on; she didn't have a chance. It's all my fault…I'm such a freakin idiot. If she dies…if…"

"Sir, she's not going to die; at least not on my watch. Lets get her on a stretcher!" The EMT yelled the last part to fellow co-workers and motioned them over.

Suddenly more EMT's surrounded Troy and he watched in amazement as they surrounded Gabriella's delicate body and as carefully as humanly possible they relocated her body onto the stretcher. Gabriella's body shifted a small bit and she released a small and barely there moan, but as soon as it came it was gone.

"Come on Gabi, stay with me…please," whispered Troy.

He felt her body being lifted up after the men screamed a count down and he went up with them. People around them were talking loudly but his eyes never looked up once to scan the crowd. All he cared about was her; she was the only face he ever wanted to see.

* * *

**A/N: There it is, I really hope that you enjoyed this! Please make me so happy and review, I love hearing all things good and bad, short and long. Long ones are my favorite though! **

**So after the last chapter of this story, which is the next one, hopefully I can finish up Losing Her Grace, and then I'll be starting a long story: 20+ chapters. I have two ideas in my head, one of which would pick up on my current story Silent Admiration (Which will become You, Me and the Stars). My other idea will remain a secret for a long time in case I decide to write that one. **

**But I'd really appreciate you readers to tell me what type of a story you'd like to see me write. One that takes place in High School, one that takes place years from then, Troyella already together, Troyella become together, anything! Just let me know what type of a story you want to read and you'd love to see me write. Sorry this is so long, but thanks again, and review!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Wow, were has the time gone! Sadly, this is the last chapter to the incredibly successful story I'd Lie, and you all are to thank for that, you have no idea how amazing you all are. Make sure you check out the A/N at the bottom, and if you don't want to, to sum it up please go check out my new but old story You, Me and the Stars. Again, thank you all so much for everything and please review one last time!!

**Song: **I'd Lie by Taylor Swift

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing you'd recognize nor anything relating to HSM.

* * *

_All he cared about was her; she was the only face he ever wanted to see._

**I'd Lie**

**Chapter 9**

_**June 9, 2009 – Present – Wedding Day**_

_I don't think that passenger seat  
Has ever looked this good to me  
He tells me about his night  
And I count the colors in his eyes_

His feet were moving at the speed of light, and in this type of a place where most people were sitting down in an uncomfortable chair and waiting for hours with their heads in their hands, they didn't particularly enjoy this. It had been almost two hours since Gabriella was rushed into the ER, with Troy holding tightly onto her hand. Doctors, nurses, and the EMT's were all screaming things; orders, stats, conditions, etc... all of which Troy didn't understand. No one seemed to hear him screaming though. Screaming for someone to help her, screaming for her to wake up, screaming for the blood to stop trickling down her perfect face. Screaming for her life. No one seemed to notice.

Gabriella's doctor had just told Troy a few minutes ago that they had stopped the bleeding and the surgery went off without a hitch. She suffered from a broken ankle, a broken arm, a lot of fractured and sore bones, endless bruises, and a concussion. It was up to her when she woke up, and it could be any where from twenty minutes to a few days.

Her lifeless body was just on the other side of the hospital room door, which was a mere four feet from his restless body, but he couldn't get himself to actually go in there.

Too many thoughts were going through his head at the moment. What would he say to her? Would she ever forgive him for being such a blind idiot? Would she still want to be with him? Did she ever even want to be with him? Would it be extremely awkward?

He sure as hell hoped not.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you with something?" asked a lady dressed in purple scrubs.

Troy brought his eyes up to meet hers and finally stopped pacing for the first time in a while now. He looked at her with pleading eyes, begging her to offer him advice and support, begging her to tell him what to do. Hell, who was he kidding, he didn't even know the lady.

"...um, no I don't think so."

She just smiled softly at him. "If you say so. If need to sit down, there's a lounge down the hall. People have just been wondering what you're doing out here pacing like you have been."

Troy's head snapped left and right. Had people actually noticed him? Was he that bad?

"Yes, people have noticed you," she confirmed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just debating something kind of important in my head right now, so I'm going a little crazy. But I'll stop pacing if you'd like."

She just nodded her head before taking one last look at him. She then moved over to the closed door Troy had been pacing in front of for quite some time and peered inside. "She looks like she could use some company. I have a feeling that you could help speed up the process of her waking up. They can hear you when you talk to them you know, just saying hello could help. It certainly won't kill you to give it a try," said the nurse.

Troy looked at her like she was crazy, she just assumed that the woman inside of that room was the reason for his major dilemma. How could she have possibly nailed it so well?

"Yeah, I guess I will," said Troy softly.

The nurse turned around again, "Good. Now go be her saving grace," she almost ordered.

And with that the lady turned and walked away, disappearing from his sight.

_He'll never fall in love he swears  
As he runs his fingers through his hair  
I'm laughing cause I hope he's wrong_

Troy took a huge breath in and let it all out before approaching the closed wooden door. His eyes landed on her distressed body once more, tears coming to his eyes at the mere sight of her. She didn't deserve this, any of this, and he felt like a worthless human being for being one of the causes of it.

It scared him to see his Gabriella so weak and broken down; she was always the strong one out of their friends. Never could he remember her being the one to break her arm, or get stung by a bee, or cry randomly. She always seemed to do an excellent job of holding herself together and keeping her emotions withheld within herself. Troy started to wonder if that was actually a good thing though, or if that could actually result in the beginning of a terrible breakdown. Then he remembered Chad saying to him earlier in the day how she had become a disaster lately. Her seeing him with Joy made her crumble to pieces and he was afraid he would never get the old Gabi back. But then again, wasn't the old Gabi miserable too?

He had really screwed up this time.

His shaking hand found the cold metal door handle, and ever so slightly he pulled it down and barely pushed the heavy door open. The door didn't make any noises, and instead the sound of consistent beeping was heard. He wouldn't mind the noise though because it helped convince himself that she really was alive under all of those bruises.

The blanket on her body moved up and down slowly as his feet carried himself over to her bedside to an empty chair. It took him a while, but eventually he sat down in it and looked down at his hands. He could only take it one step at a time.

Too many thoughts were running through his head and he felt like he was suffocating. Being in a hospital with the love of his life lying in a bed unconscious while it was his suppose to be his wedding day was a lot for one person to handle all in one day.

Finally his eyes moved up from the tile floor and onto the bed sheets, and eventually his eyes even fell on her arm. About a minute later he was able to move his eyes once more to meet her face, and this time he didn't look away. Troy's left hand moved up and aimlessly found her hand to hold.

_I don't think it ever crossed his mind  
He tells a joke I fake a smile  
That I know all his favorite songs  
And.._

"Hey," he whispered. "So I don't know if you can hear me, or if that lady was lying to me, or if I'm just being weird right now, but I'm going to talk, and if you listen, great, if not...then that's great too."

_Deep breath in, deep breath out,_ ordered Troy to himself.

"I'm such a freakin idiot it makes me dizzy. Seriously. I just don't know where to begin when it comes to you; actually it begins a little over twenty years ago, so I have a lot of catching up to do."

Troy suddenly wished he had a tape recorder with him so he could tape what he was about to say and never have to repeat it again.

"I've always been so blind, and I'm not exactly sure why. This is all just so confusing and it's hard to make sense of it sometimes, but I'm just going to talk and hope that you get some of it and it isn't too confusing, because this is all just really confusing."

"All those years ago when I met you I was simply amazed by you. I don't think it was by your looks at first but rather by your personality; who you were, who you _are._ So carefree, independent, strong, and kick-ass. Yet sweet, caring, devoted and loving at the same time. Back then I saw you as special; unlike any other person I'd ever met or come across in my life. You were perfect, and I didn't want to mess that up."

Troy hung his head down in shame, not able to look at her closed eyes but he still kept his hand still holding hers.

"I told you time and time again that you were like my sister; that's what I saw you as. I mean we did practically everything together and at the age of eight and nine I didn't even know what a girlfriend was, so sister was the next best thing. I didn't want anyone to hurt you, and I definitely didn't want to share you. I wanted you all to myself, and looking back on that I realize how incredibly selfish and unfair I was. I didn't want you to have anyone else, yet over time I continually had someone else myself. I was a jerk Gabriella, and for that I'm sorry. Not once did I stop and think about you and your feelings or what you wanted. All I could do was think about what I wanted, and that was you plus a few other girls."

Troy shook his head in disgrace, utterly disgusted with himself after hearing himself finally speak the truth.

"For so long I was always wrapped up in my happiness. I had girl after girl, and eventually I had Joy and I had a successful job and a good life for myself. But most importantly I knew I'd always have you. I shouldn't have been so selfish with you; I should have let you live your life and be happy. I've always wanted you to be happy Gabs, you deserve that more than anyone. I've just been too blind to see what you being happy would consist of all of these years."

"I could be even more of a jerk and say, well why didn't you tell me you had feelings for me? But then I realize that you are a human being, and rejection is something not many people take well, and obviously that could make our relationship awkward, so I don't blame you for keeping your mouth shut, especially since I was continually telling you that I could never be with 'someone like you.'"

"I don't know how or why I never saw the pain on your face. Maybe I did but I just didn't think to do anything about it. Again, I was just such a selfish bastard who only cared about myself and I took complete advantage of you and your feelings."

Troy finally separated his hand from Gabriella's and brought it up to his face to hold. He rubbed his face up and down taking more deep breaths.

"And now everything is just so screwed up and it's all my fault. I spent all day long today, my wedding day for Christ's sake, debating whether I was doing the right thing or not. I mean, I was _completely _freaking out, you can ask Chad. Yes, _Chad_ of all people."

"We've always been called the "golden couple" yet I never really understood it. The bottom line Gabi is that I felt that if I ever was with you that I would run the risk of hurting you, and if I ever hurt you...I wouldn't be able to live with myself Gabs. But I've learned that that's not fair, because you're a strong woman and you have every right to decide for yourself if you can handle the risk or not; it's your decision and I selfishly made that one for you, and I'm sorry. It just became easier to see you as a best friend because best friends fight all of the time, and minutes later they're over it and are all made up. But I guess people who are in love can do that too..."

Troy lifted his head again and allowed his eyes to settle on Gabriella's face. "I think I've already talked to much. Gabi...please...just wake up and come back to me. I need you," he whispered.

Standing up and leaning over her body, Troy gently placed his lips on her forehead and gave her a soft kiss, before lowering his head some more and touching his lips to her perfect ones; something he realized he should have done a long time ago.

"I'll be waiting."

Looking at her and seeing what he had caused was killing him, so Troy quietly exited her room making sure to take one last quick look at her weakened body before leaving. Once the door was shut and he was on the other side, Troy let his body slowly slide down the door. When he reached the floor he let his head fall into his hands and for the first time in what felt like forever, he cried.

He cried for his mistakes, he cried for his screw-ups, he cried for a second chance, he cried for help.

_I could tell you his favorite color's green  
He loves to argue, born on the seventeenth  
His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes  
And if you asked me if I love him,  
I'd lie_

-

-

It had been a few hours since Troy had let out all of his thoughts and feelings to Gabriella, and she still hadn't woken up yet. At one point after Troy's crying fest on the hospital floor, a janitor interrupted his thoughts and informed him that he had to wash the floors so he needed to move. Slowly, Troy pulled his distressed body up from the ground and quietly entered her room again. It was night time by now and Troy was having a hard time keeping his eyes opened. He walked over to Gabriella's still sleeping body, placed a soft kiss on her forehead again, and slouched down in the chair next to her bed, not forgetting to attach their hands in the process. And then he finally allowed his eyes to close and sleep easily over took his body.

_He looks around the room  
Innocently overlooks the truth  
Shouldn't a light go on?  
Doesn't he know that I've had him memorized for so long?_

_**Flashback**_

"_Boys are just so stupid, you know?" spoke Taylor with annoyance in her voice._

"_And blind, and horny, and arrogant, an-"_

"_Okay Gabi! I think that's enough male hating for one day. Gosh, what is with you lately?" asked Taylor with concern in her voice._

_They were heading to lunch together which meant that the school day was more than half-way over. _

_Gabriella released a large breath. "Sorry," she muttered. "Nothings wrong, just...stressed out and stuff."_

"_And stuff...thats for sure," muttered Taylor under her breath._

_Gabriella turned her face towards her best friend and shot her evil eyes. "Watch it," she snapped._

"_Sorry little miss love struck. Maybe if you tried being honest with the guy things would work out and you two would live happily ever after," suggested Taylor teasingly._

"_Taylor, you know nothing will ever happen, you know he doesn't care, you know I'd be setting myself up for rejection, you _know_ he prefers one night stands."_

_Taylor couldn't help but cringe at the last part. "Sorry Gabs, it's just so hard watching you try so hard to be noticed yet he just doesn't even seem to care. Like, he cares about you but just not in that way. And that makes me furious."_

"_You're not the only one," whispered Gabriella._

_They both continued on their journey to the cafeteria and when they walked inside, Gabriella's brown orbs immediately found his blue ones and latched on. His mouth turned upwards in a smirk reserved only for her, something she'd live for, and his left eye lid shut quickly sending a wink her way. All she could do was blush. "My god he's beautiful," she whispered to herself._

"_What was that?" asked Taylor._

"_Huh? Nothing. What are you buying today?" asked Gabriella frantically trying to change the subject._

"_You love him," stated Taylor easily._

_Gabriella's brown orbs nearly bursted out of her eye sockets. "What? No I don't! Come on, I'm starving."_

_And with that Gabriella left Taylor behind and pushed her thoughts about Troy out of her head. He always saw right past her feelings anyways and it was as if she didn't have any, so why not start acting like she really didn't have any? Wouldn't that be easier?_

_**End Flashback**_

_He sees everything black and white  
Never let nobody see him cry  
I don't let nobody see me wishing he was mine_

She could feel something heavy on her hand, yet she just couldn't seem to open her eyes to try and figure out what it was. Her heart was screaming at her to just do it; wake up. But her head was killing her and it wanted to keep resting. While she rested though she heard the strangest of things; it was a voice and the things that they said were closely in relation to herself and her own experiences. She just assumed that she was having a conversation with them and kept listening, yet she was still confused as to why she couldn't see him or her.

She didn't know what had happened to her, nor did she know that she was in a hospital. All that she knew was that she needed some major drugs really fast for the splitting head ache that was straining her head. When she went to think about that day, she remembered that there was a wedding, and immediately a gasp escaped from her mouth. Did Troy and Joy get married? Oh my god, she couldn't believe it, they must have gotten married by now and it really was all over.

The pressure in her brain was so intense now but she was forcing herself to fight through it and open her eyes. Not knowing what was going on was killing her.

The voice from earlier was stilling filling her head and was now telling her to wake up. For a moment she thought it was just her conscience again screaming at her, but soon enough she realized that it wasn't; it wasn't even a female. No, it sounded more like a male. He was pleading with her to wake up and open her eyes. The voice was so soothing to her and it helped to lessen the pain in her head. She begged for him to keep talking, but eventually it stopped after he said he'd 'be waiting.' _Waiting for what? _She wondered.

_For you to wake up you idiot!_ Screamed her conscious. Oh for Christ's sake, shut your mouth, thought Gabriella.

_Wake up._

_Wake up!_

In an instant her eyes opened wide ad she dreadfully regretted it. The light that hit her eyes blinded her and she tried to bring her hands up to grasp her face, but found it was too hard.

"Gabriella!"

_I could tell you his favorite color's green  
He loves to argue, born on the seventeenth  
His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes  
And if you asked me if I love him,  
I'd lie_

There was the voice again, except this time it was much, much louder and more real. The movement of her head and even her eyes was making her dizzy, and she could feel her stomach turning. Acid was moving up her throat and she fought to keep it down. Her eyes fluttered closed and then open again, slowly allowing her eyes to focus on what was in front of her: Troy.

_He stands there then walks away  
My god if I could only say  
I'm holding every breath for you..._

She tried to speak but found no words exiting her mouth, instead she felt tears well up in her eyes. Immediately her line of vision dropped from his worried expression to the left hand holding her own and what she saw made her gasp.

Noticing this, Troy followed her eye sight and caught on to her reaction. "I didn't do it Gabi; I couldn't."

Ever so slightly Gabriella shook her head left and right. "What?"

It was the first word she spoke in hours.

"I'm not married Gabi, I couldn't do it. We'll, technically Joy couldn't but she only couldn't do it because she saw in my eyes my apprehension and regret. I was too busy listening to my head Gabi, that I had such a hard time hearing my heart. And your heart is always right."

"Don't give me this mind over matter bull shit Troy, why are you here?"

Troy released her hand in utter shock and confusion. "Excuse me?"

Gabriella released a large breath before continuing. "I'm sorry, I'm just so confused right now and my head feels like it's about to explode."

"Then why don't you rest for a bit and we'll talk later?" suggested Troy.

"No, I'll be fine, I promise."

"If you say so," whispered Troy.

After a few moments of silence Gabriella found her voice again. "So why didn't you marry her?"

Troy was shocked that she actually had to ask.

"You."

_He'd never tell you but he can play guitar  
I think he can see through everything  
But my heart_

It was only one word but it still blew her away. "What?"

"I was a wreck all day Gabi, going back and forth with if I was doing the right thing or not, whether I really loved Joy or whether it was just lust and a deep fascination, and why all of a sudden I couldn't get you out of my head."

"What are you trying to say Troy?" asked Gabriella almost afraid of the answer.

"For so long I saw you as a "sister" and nothing more. I just didn't want to hurt you Gabriella and you have to understand that. I'm finally starting to see through that idea though and I'm realizing how much of a part of me that you are. I could never fully be with a woman who wasn't you because they simply wouldn't be _you_. I know it may be confusing, and I'm plenty confused myself."

"Again, what are you trying to say Troy?" She was quickly losing her patience.

"I want to take things to the next level with you Gabi. I want to make you happy again and show you all the love in this world. You deserve to be happy more than any other person on this planet, and having been the one to take it away from you in the first place, I feel like it's my job to give it back. Not job _literally_, just, it's almost like saying it's my purpose in life. I want to be with you, I want to make you happy, and I want to give us a try."

Gabriella's mouth shot open and hung that way for a while.

"You seriously think I'd just pretend that my broken heart doesn't exist, and that I'm perfectly fine on the inside and fall at your feet because you're _finally _realizing what you've had in front of you for basically your whole life?!"

"No. Don't you understand? I was an idiot, I was a moron and blind, I was a...a guy! I was so stupid that I'm ashamed of myself. But you have to understand that I did it for my own pathetic and selfish reasons and I regret every second of it, but I've finally been able to step back from myself and see what I've done, and more importantly the damage that I've created," begged Troy.

"But you almost _married_ her for goodness sakes Troy, as in husband and wife! What if Joy hadn't stopped the wedding and told you that she couldn't do it? Huh? Then what? Divorce her two days later because you'd finally had a 'revelation'?! It's not that easy for me to just forgive you Troy. You have no idea what I've been through emotionally, mentally, and now physically!"

Troy hung his head in defeat; this was going nowhere.

"I don't know how else to say how sorry I am," whispered Troy.

_First thought when I wake up is  
My god he's beautiful  
So I put on my make up  
And pray for a miracle_

Gabriella just kept her eyes on her clasped hands laying on her blanket covered legs. "I've been here for over twenty years Troy, I've been right in front of you and at your fingertips. You had every chance in the book, every opportunity to take the next step, but you never did. You never did Troy," said Gabriella, whispering the last part.

"I was the most selfish human being alive back then Gabi, and even more in recent months. It's always been about me and my happiness; not once did I stop to see how you felt. I didn't like it when you had a boyfriend, and you rarely ever did too, yet I always had another girl on my arm. I wanted it all and at some points I even had it all, but that was at the unfair cost of your happiness. I'm a blind man Gabriella, a very, _very_ blind man who I'm deeply ashamed of. But my past is my past and I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to focus on the future...and you...and possibly _our _future," said Troy ending with apprehension in his voice.

Gabriella's weak and watery eyes lifted up from her blankets and met with his much colder steel blue eyes, eyes that looked so drained in comparison to their normally luminous shine.

"I just need you to respect my feelings Troy, and to just understand how hard this is. It's not going to be easy, and it's going to take me a long time to adjust, and you have to promise to take things slowly and day by day."

His eyes seemed to burst up one notch. _Hope._

"I've practically had a mental breakdown right in front of your very eyes and you didn't even notice. I've watched girl after girl live my fantasy. I've given up on happiness, love, hope and a future. My heart is completely shattered and destroyed. That's a lot for a man to take on and believe that he can fix, are you sure you can handle all of this Troy?"

"It's the _very_ least that I can do Gabriella," spoke Troy with complete confidence in his voice.

Gabriella carefully nodded her head up and down. It would be hard, and there was even a possibility that her heart would be even more destroyed if something went wrong, but she decided to put her faith in his hands. After all, faith makes all things possible. And faith isn't faith until it's all you're holding onto, and at this point in her life, faith was the only thing she could hold onto, besides Troy's hand.

It would be a long road, their growing relationship, but it would be a road well worth the bumps and bruises. It wold be a road that held an incredible journey and revealed a dream-like future. It would be a road of finally letting go of the past, letting go of the fear, letting go of the lies, and speaking from the heart.

_  
Yes I could tell you his favorite color's green  
He loves to argue oh and it kills me  
His sisters beautiful he has his father's eyes  
And if you asked me if I love him  
If you asked me if I love him  
I'd lie _

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: **There you have it! The ending to I'd Lie. I'm not sure how I feel about it, and I'm so sorry if you found it confusing. I had such a hard time trying to explain to you what I saw happening and what I wanted to happen through Troy and Gabriella. A few reviewers in particular greatly effected the ending of this story; they made me realize a few realistic things in life that you can't just ignore. And thank you Mel for all the help and advice you've given me, you're the best! I'm sorry to you all if you weren't pleased with the outcome of this story, but I felt it was most appropriate.

I want to thank you ALL for making this story such a huge success, I seriously still can't believe how much interest was shown for this story, and it really makes me happy to know that I could pull off a story like that. Of course this isn't the end for me, right now I'm focusing on my new but old story, You, Me and the Stars. If you haven't checked that out yet, please do now!! And put in on your alerts because I already have a lot of chapters written so updates will be often! Thank you again for all of the support, and for one last time... please review!! I hope to see you in other stories!

FiFi xoxo

Special thanks: xo LAILAIxo, unknownbyhim22, World of Peace, HSMBonesFan, zanessa4ever719, 12superstar, RaInBoW-Of-MuSiC, Line 101, liv3.in.lov3, HisDelilah... I could go all day! Thank you EVERYONE!! 3


End file.
